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American Morning
Big Oil Blame Game; Senator Inhofe Says No to Kagan; Easing Wireless Bill Shock; Recession Spikes High-End Repossessions; Britain's Power Shift; Beau Biden's Stroke; Karzai at the White House; Facebook Pages Call to Boycott BP
Aired May 12, 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: Good morning to you. Glad you're with us on this Wednesday. It is May 12th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Drew Griffin. John Roberts is off this morning. Here are the top stories on this morning.
It is on its way, right now. BP workers lowering that second containment dome, the top hat, into the Gulf of Mexico and what may be this last real hope for a quick fix on that oil spill.
CHETRY: Vice President Joe Biden's son, Beau, will undergo more tests this morning after suffering what doctors call a mild stroke. The 41-year-old Delaware attorney general is in the Philadelphia hospital. He said to be in good spirits. We're going to be joined by Dr. Sanjay Gupta a little later to talk about the road ahead for Beau Biden.
GRIFFIN: And with the recession still raging and nearly 200 million vehicles a year being repossessed in America, the banks now putting a bounty on big ticket items like yachts and planes. In a moment, we're going to take you on a ride with the new breed of repo men as they try to snatch a Cessna from an unsuspecting owner.
CHETRY: But, first we're tracking some breaking news this morning in Libya.
Officials say an 8-year-old boy from the Netherlands is the survivor right now, the only one that they know of, that survived this horrifying plane crash in Tripoli. One hundred four people on board are killed with an Afriqiyah Airline. It went down on its way to land in Libya. Libya's transport minister telling the Associated Press that they have recovered 96 bodies so far.
GRIFFIN: It was an airbus jet making a stopover in Tripoli after a nine-hour trip from Johannesburg, South Africa. It was heading to London.
Right now rescuers are searching the wreckage, some of it still smoldering were told. They found the flight data recorders, which could give investigators clue as to what went wrong. We're monitoring developments there on the story and we'll bring you any information especially on that kid, as soon as we get it. CHETRY: In the meantime, our other big story we're following, BP's plan B. The oil company is lowering a second smaller containment dome, it's known as the "top hat," into the Gulf of Mexico. A larger version failed last week and every day they fail, more and more oil wiping out the fishing industry, threatening wild life, ruining beaches and essentially killing tourism in the gulf.
GRIFFIN: Outrage directed at the company and the big oil is now swelling up across the country. A boycott, a BP Facebook group is emerging. It has 13,000 members so far.
CHETRY: And oil executives look back on the Hill after they were grilled yesterday by lawmakers, and there's plenty of blame to go around. So far there are no one seems to be willing to accept it. The finger pointing is sure to continue in a few hours. Our Brianna Keilar is live in Washington today with more.
That's what we saw more of yesterday when the oil executives were in front of the Senate committee.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I suspect here will be seeing more of that coming up here in about three hours. These executives will be facing today a House subcommittee of Democrats and Republicans who handed them just blistering criticism last week after a closed-door briefing. If it's anything like yesterday's hearing before senators, there will be a whole lot of ducking for cover.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please be seated.
KEILAR (voice-over): They sat right next to each other, top oil industry executives, and they told senators it was the other guy's fault.
Here's what BP said.
LAMAR MCKAY, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN, BP AMERICA, INC.: TransOcean, as owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, had responsibility for the safety of drilling operations.
KEILAR: But TransOcean pointed a finger at Halliburton, which sealed the well.
STEVEN NEWMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TRANSOCEAN LIMITED: There was a sudden catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing or both. Without a failure of one of those elements, the explosion could not have occurred.
KEILAR: And Halliburton, it blamed BP and TransOcean, saying Halliburton just followed BP's instructions and TransOcean's blowout preventer, a shutoff device, failed to work.
TIM PROBERT, HALLIBURTON EXECUTIVE: Had the BOP functioned as expected, this catastrophe may well not have had occurred. KEILAR: Democrats and Republicans weren't impressed.
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: I hear one message, and the message is don't blame me. Well, shifting this blame does not get us very far.
KEILAR: The blame game made Democratic senators skeptical that BP will make good on its promise to pay damages.
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: So if it's a legitimate claim, a harm to the fishing industry, both short term and long term, you're going to pay?
MCKAY: We're going to pay all legitimate claims.
CANTWELL: If it's an impact from business loss from tourism, you're going to pay?
MCKAY: We'll going to pay all legitimate claims.
CANTWELL: To state and local governments for loss of tax revenue, you're going to pay?
MCKAY: Question mark.
CANTWELL: Long-term damages to the Louisiana fishing industry and its brand?
MCKAY: I can't -- I can't quantify or speculate on long-term. I don't know how to define it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: That's really the issue there. Just how much will BP pay in damages that is still murky, obviously. One senator who is introduced legislation to increase the liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion asked BP America's Lamar McKay if he would commit to paying that much in damages should they grow to that amount. And McKay said, Drew and Kiran, that he couldn't comment on that.
CHETRY: Some people are just asking, what's the point of these hearings? I mean, can Congress really force any of these oil companies to do anything? They just want to get them on the record.
KEILAR: Well, and there is some question about whether they can do something retroactively here because there is a $75 million in place. So, yes, this is about getting them on the record. How much are you willing to pay? And as you can see BP especially, because they are very much the ones in the hot seat here being very careful about how they answer that question.
CHETRY: Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thank you.
GRIFFIN: While all this is going on, there's a growing cry this morning, both online and along the Gulf Coast to boycott BP all together. More protest plans for today. Yesterday, this was an anti-war group code pink heckled the oil executives right before the hearing, holding up signs, BP kills and BP equals bad people.
In South Florida, demonstrators carrying oil slicks in the form of large plastic tarps. They were placed along sensitive areas of Miami Beach. Joe Johns shows us how this environmental nightmare is now a full-blown public relations disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For years, BP has tried to project an image as the environmentally responsible oil company. Just check out its website and the company logo, a sun burst of green. Now, of course, that image is in tatters and the company is doing massive damage control.
TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: A responsibility for safety on the drilling rig is with translation.
JOHNS: BP's initial PR strategy passed the buck and series of interviews and news conferences, CEO, Tony Hayward pointed the finger at other companies working the domed oil rig.
HAYWARD: It is their rig, their equipment, their people, their systems. Their safety processes.
JOHNS: But deflecting blame isn't easy when even the president of the United States attaches your company's name to a disaster.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They gave me an update on our efforts to stop the BP oil spill.
JOHNS: One public relations guru who has long represented environmental causes says BP's already lost the battle.
ROB ANDERSON, FENTON COMMUNICATIONS: This will BP's oil spill. I mean, this is - you know, they are not going to be able to get out from under it.
JOHNS: Public relations experts we talked to pointed to what happened to Exxon after the Valdez oil spill. An oil company name gets associated with an environmental accident and the public doesn't forget about it. However, the thing that's different nowadays, which Exxon didn't have to deal with, is the influence of social media, which might seemed to be running against BP too right now.
A Facebook page called Boycott BP appears to have thousands of fans. So what's the company supposed to do? In the end, BP's legacy will depend not just on words but on action.
ANDERSON: You've got to think that if they deal with the crisis effectively, they are able to do that and they are able to show that they are being responsive in this crisis, then that ultimately is what's going to help their brand the most. So by doing that, they are being good stewards of their brand. JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CNN GRIFFIN: Well, would you consider participating in a boycott of BP? Could you even do it? Let us know. Head to our blog at CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: One lawmaker is already saying he cannot support President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe is going to be joining to talk about why next. It's 8 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 11 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the morning.
Just hours after the president announced his pick for the Supreme Court Elena Kagan, Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe made his opposition clear. He says that Kagan has a lack of impartiality with those who disagree with her and has demonstrated "poor judgment" as the head of Harvard Law School. He's also concerned that she's never been a judge.
Senator Inhofe joins us now from Capitol Hill with more on his opposition. Thanks for being with us this morning, Senator.
SENATOR JIM INHOFE, (R) OKLAHOMA: Nice to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: So first of all, he basically just made the announcement and you've already decided you are going to vote against her before she has her confirmation hearings. Why?
INHOFE: Well, because we went through this 15 months ago. And you know, most of the Republicans opposed her when she's up for solicitor general. They did it for different reasons, one of reasons was no judicial background.
It's been 38 years since we confirmed someone for the United States Supreme Court who didn't have any judicial experience. That wasn't a deal for me. Coming from the position of how she wants to treat terrorists if they have military tribunals, appealing to the civil courts, I don't agree with that.
But I think the thing that made the most difference was the whole idea. There's a movement on right now in college campuses to stop military recruiting and that was her policy and I was opposed to that. Now, It think it's important to understand, that in 1994, when I was elected to the United States Senate, I made it very clear that I take this confirmation process seriously.
And if I vote against someone at a lower court, let's say a district court, that same person comes up another year later or five years later for the United States Supreme Court, I can't think of circumstances under which I would change my position if I was opposed to it at district level, I would be opposed to her or him at the United States Supreme Court level.
CHETRY: You said that you take the confirmation process seriously but you're not even letting it play out before deciding that she's not --
INHOFE: No, that's not right. We went through the confirmation process 15 months ago and nothing has changed since that time. So for that reason, at that time we looked at it carefully and made a decision. Let me say this too. More than half of the members of the senate have made up their minds. They don't say it. I say it.
CHETRY: I hear you. Let's go over some of the criticisms that you have. You question her lack of experience as a judge. Forty though of the 111 Supreme Court justices did not come from the bench. Two of the last four previous chief justices, including William Rehnquist and Earl Warren had no judicial experience. Did that make them less effective because they had never been a judge?
INHOFE: No, that wasn't a deal killer for me. That was for some of the others. It's been 38 years since Rehnquist was confirmed and I think perhaps that's a major issue in a lot of people's minds. That's not the deal killer in my mind. Nonetheless, I believe it's far better to have judicial background, judicial experience on the bench if you're going to sit on the United States Supreme Court.
CHETRY: One of things you didn't like, her position, rather to military recruiters, which many argue wasn't really opposition to military recruiting on campus as much as it was opposition to the don't ask-don't tell policy. What do you think about that? INHOFE: I don't think that's right. I don't see that connection there. My concern was if you're recruiting, they ought to be able to recruit on campuses. There has been a movement for a long time to try to preclude this from happening. That's why Jerry Solomon in the House. I served with him at that time and I think I co-sponsored his legislation that said you would not be qualified for federal funds if you don't allow recruiting on the campus. Well, that law is still in effect today. I think it's a good law and she doesn't.
CHETRY: Right, here's what she said when she was dean of the law school in 2003. She said that -- basically, she explains the school's nondiscrimination policy. There was an exception for military recruiting as you explained there with the Solomon law. Not to get too much into the weeds, but she stated her objection to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And then she also expressed her strong view that military service is a noble and socially valuable career path that should be encouraged and open to all of the graduates.
It doesn't sound like somebody who's against military recruiting.
INHOFE: Well, she was against it -- her stated position. And by the way, on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," she was in the Clinton administration, was part of that administration that established that policy. She was for that policy at that time. And she's changed her mind since then apparently. On the -- the reason there is some confusion on the military recruiting on campuses is that the Third Circuit Court struck that down. CHETRY: Right.
INHOFE: The Solomon provision. Then just in less than a year later, they were overruled by the United States Supreme Court. I think the ruling was 8-0 at that time.
CHETRY: It was. Yes.
INHOFE: So it was during that time period that she came out pretty actively and said no, we don't want recruiting on the campus of Harvard. And so, then, of course, when the law went back in, she has to comply with the law and I understand. I respect her for that.
CHETRY: Right. Is there anything that Kagan could say or do during the confirmation process that would change your mind?
INHOFE: Well, first of all, I'm not on the committee that will be -- have that opportunity.
CHETRY: But you'll be listening.
INHOFE: But nonetheless, I would watch very carefully and I would say no because of the policy that I stated. And this again, back in Oklahoma, everyone in Oklahoma knows this, that if I believe someone is not qualified for a lower position like a district level, how could that person be qualified for the United States Supreme Court? I don't think they could. The bar has to go up as you go up the courts.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it was great to get your perspective and your point of view this morning. Senator James Inhofe, great to talk to you as always. Thanks.
INHOFE: Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Seventeen minutes after the hour. We're going to be "Minding Your Business" when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. We are deep in a conversation, aren't we, guys?
CHETRY: There's a lot to talk about this morning.
GRIFFIN: But we want to talk about cell phone bills.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what this conversation is about because Drew, you know, he doesn't like it when he gets some bills at the end of the month.
GRIFFIN: I don't.
ROMANS: That are not exactly what he thought it was.
GRIFFIN: Obviously. ROMANS: No, the FCC is asking questions, wants to know what you think about the fact that your little darling maybe sent a whole bunch of text messages and you're being charged 20 cents apiece, and you didn't think that was part of the plan. And why didn't they tell you that you were over the limit?
They're thinking about putting in new alerts about potential high charges for voice, text and data. And they've opened this public comment period to get your point of view.
In Europe, as a matter of fact, the cell phone companies have to send you a voice mail alert or a text message when you are getting close to dangerous territory on getting past the limits of your plan. Many, many parents of teenagers and adults themselves have found suddenly they get a cell phone bill they didn't realize that they had gone over the limit. And they owe an awful lot of money.
So one of the things that people are complaining to the FCC about is they think there's some misleading advertising. They think that they take pretty good care of watching their cell phone accounts, their cell phone bills and their plan and their minutes, but then suddenly it gets away from them anyway. So, you know, an interesting conversation about whose responsibility it is. Ours or our kids or the government.
A couple of quick things to remind you about in terms of making sure your bills don't surprise you. Pick the right plan for you. If you have four teenagers in the house, you probably need more than 200 text messages a month. That's just my --
GRIFFIN: (INAUDIBLE) 200,000.
ROMANS: That's just my guess, Drew.
CHETRY: You're doing about 1,000 a month.
ROMANS: I know. I know. Look, we figured it out. There are 3.5 million texts every single minute in this country and it's growing 3.5 million a minute. Now, it reminds kind of like the debit card. You know, you go and use a debit card. There's no money in the account and suddenly -- but the money still comes out and you get hit with a charge.
GRIFFIN: Right.
ROMANS: You know, wouldn't it be pretty easy just to shut that down. Well, now, the banks are shutting that down. They don't do that anymore. Isn't it the same sort --
CHETRY: I think it's like a toll booth. If you lose your pass, you don't get charged $17,000. You know, you get charged the maximum.
GRIFFIN: If you have --
CHETRY: So why don't they charge the maximum? GRIFFIN: Yes. If you have a 10 or 11-year-old and you're going to get them a cell phone, here's the deal. They'll give you unlimited phone voice.
ROMANS: Right. Right.
GRIFFIN: Like a big come on, unlimited voice.
ROMANS: Right.
GRIFFIN: They don't say anything about the text.
ROMANS: And then what happens? Kids don't talk on the phone.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They only text.
ROMANS: So they're appealing to old folks like us --
GRIFFIN: Yes.
ROMANS: -- who think in old, (INAUDIBLE) ways about what telephone is for. I know I was saying, you know, my brother told me not to text him because it's 10 cents.
CHETRY: I'll send your brother a dollar. You guys got to keep in touch.
ROMANS: Well, I may text him every hour today.
GRIFFIN: Write him a letter, 50 cents.
CHETRY: Give me his --
ROMANS: Forty-four cents.
CHETRY: Yes. Give me his --
GRIFFIN: When did that happen?
CHETRY: Give me his address, his cell phone. I'll start texting him too.
GRIFFIN: All right.
ROMANS: Back in 1986 we are. Thanks guys.
GRIFFIN: All right.
CHETRY: Some surprising news, by the way, about Joe Biden's son. He's 41 years old, Beau Biden. Doctors say that he had a mild stroke yesterday. He's going to recover, but is this a health warning to many? We're paging Dr. Gupta. He'll tell us some of the signs that we should not ignore when it comes to predicting stroke.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Welcome back. The Most News in the Morning. Here at 7:25, top stories are five minutes away. First though, an "A.M. Original," something you're going to see only here on AMERICAN MORNING.
As the nation struggles through the ravages of recession, repos are on the rise. Nearly two million vehicles a year now being legally stolen from their owners by the repo man. And these days, it's not just cars that are being jacked. Carol Costello joins us live from Washington. And, Carol, I was talking to one of your photographers about this. This is a crazy story about what's being repossessed.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a fascinating business, Drew. What is it about repo men? We seem to be fascinated by them. There have been movies made about repo men, reality TV shows. But you have never seen repo men quite like this. They deal only in high-end goods and business is booming.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Well, all of these planes that we see here have been repossessed?
KEN CAGE, INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY & REMARKETING GROUP: Yes, they have been. All have their own story to tell.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Ken Cage is a high-end repo man with a booming business called the International Recovery & Remarketing Group.
CAGE: Here's the airline. It's a citation one.
COSTELLO: Forget about cars and motorcycles, Cage, along with former WWE wrestler Randy Craft repossess jets and yachts.
(on camera): I could just hop on the boat and take off?
CAGE: Pretty much.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Worth hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece. Today's target, a Cessna jet. A cinch? No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were trying to track the plane.
COSTELLO: The wealthy owner is not happy. The bank wants his jet back. So Cage thinks he's hiding it at an airport in Orlando.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know anything is going on with this plane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. They think it's hidden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome home, honey.
COSTELLO: After days of nifty detective work, Craft and Cage hit the road to meet a pilot they've hired.
CAGE: They didn't take on much fuel. So we knew that they were going to one of about eight or 10 airports. The airplane is there. I just texted the pilot to let them know we're on our way.
RANDY CRAFT, INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY & REMARKETING GROUP: Repossessions, I always get pumped because to me it's exciting. You know, it sounds kind of bad to say, but, you know, I find thrill to be able to go in and steal something and know I'm doing it legally.
We're just pulling into the airport now. What hangar number?
As much as I want him to floor it right now, you can't. Because if somebody comes out with an airplane, we're hamburger.
Is that her, John (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it open? Awesome. How does she look?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks good. We tried it and nothing wrong with the airplane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No sign of approval (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's not.
COSTELLO: Cage and Craft catch a break. The plane was left unlocked. No need to break in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to make the call.
COSTELLO: With the bank's repo order in hand, Cage alerts the local police.
CAGE: All right. We've got the call in. So this is legit now. It's legal.
COSTELLO: Now we get into hustle mode to get this baby out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you move that?
COSTELLO (on camera): A minute, why? What would be free mode (ph) for you to get out of here?
CAGE: He says something like 30 minutes to get the thing fueled up.
COSTELLO: You don't like that?
CAGE: Oh, I hate that.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Meanwhile, the pilots tow the jet 400 yards to the fuel pump. Randy and Ken, they're on the move in case the jet's owner or his pilot show up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no jet fuel in there.
COSTELLO: Then a hitch.
CAGE: The jet fuel pump is shut down so we can't get fuel. We've got enough to get there. It's less than you prefer to have though, so that's the thing. So, he says we have enough, we have enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, take off runway 35.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm ready when you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be safe, John. Thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Finally, Cage's $700,000 (INAUDIBLE) is airborne. Ten miles later it lands. The owner won't know what hit him until he calls the hangar a few hours later.
CAGE: We got the airplane. Now he's mad because he thought he was beating us, and in the end we end up getting the airplane. So he's mad.
There is danger. I don't think of it as danger. If I did, I probably wouldn't get out of bed in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Fascinating guys. After they get the goods they sell them for the bank. They repo jets and yachts all over the world even though their company is based in Florida. The hot spot right now for repos as far as jets and yachts go, Drew, that would be along the northeast coast of the United States.
GRIFFIN: Interesting stuff. You didn't get in the plane, did you?
COSTELLO: No, but I really wanted to.
GRIFFIN: Low on gas, forget it.
COSTELLO: I made my getaway in the truck with Randy.
GRIFFIN: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
CHETRY: They are not Duane "Dog" Chapman.
GRIFFIN: No, they are not.
I wonder if there is any vodka in the back of those things.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's half past the hour right now. Time to look at the top stories, and they're still trying to stop the oil gusher in the gulf.
BP is lowering what it calls a top hat, which is a smaller containment dome down that's spewing down, down on into the spewing well to siphon it out hopefully. A larger containment dome did not work and the massive spill continues unabated. Putting a strangling hold on the fishing and tourism industries and threatening to wipe out any wildlife that crosses its path.
GRIFFIN: A terrible story, but perhaps with a miracle. A miracle that an eight-year-old boy from the Netherlands survived a Libyan plane crash. 104 people were on board that flight from South Africa when it went down in Tripoli, a scheduled stop before going on to London. Rescuers sifting through the wreckage. 96 bodies have been recovered, as well as the jet's black box.
CHETRY: Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the vice president's son, suffered a mild stroke yesterday. Doctors say he is alert, he's talking, has all of his motor skills. But right now he's in a Philadelphia hospital getting more tests.
Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live in Atlanta this morning. You know, it's shocking just to hear. He seems so young to have a stroke.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is young. There's no question. People can have strokes at this age. But if you take the total number of strokes across the country, people that age it's going to be less than 1 percent of people actually having strokes. What exactly caused the stroke here in this case is still a little bit unclear.
And you know, I was sort of thinking about the best way to tell you this. You sort of have to break it down into two broad categories, either it could have been bleeding within the brain. And we've talked a lot about this lately with situations like Bret Michaels, Beau Biden's father in the past had an aneurismal bleed as you know or it could be something that you're looking at there or a small blood clot from somewhere in the body, sometimes the heart, for example, simply just travels all through the body, all through those various arteries and blocks a little bit of blood flow to the brain.
So these are two different kind of strokes. One is again due to bleeding within the brain and another is due to blocking the amount of blood getting to the brain. Both those can cause these types of stroke-like symptoms. A couple of things to point out, just quickly, Kiran. From what I've read and what I've understood talking to people is that he had these problems, these stroke-like symptoms but then they went away. It sounds like within a short time.
Typically in the world of neurosciences, we refer to that more as a TIA, a transient ischemic attack, something that lasts less than 24 hours and goes away. Still going to need to figure out exactly what happened here and what caused it. That's obviously some good news that he's recovered from this.
CHETRY: Yes and because in many cases you could have long-term damages as you talked about. But what is the road like ahead for him? And is he at risk now because this happened, to have a second stroke down the road?
GUPTA: Right now, I'm sure the docs are trying to sort of figure out the most likely culprit here. In about a third of cases, in about 30 percent of cases, they may never have an absolute answer. But it could have been something relatively simple like a little tear in one of the blood vessels that goes to the brain, even from a quick movement of the neck, a whiplash type injury, something like that.
Or it could have been again, one of these blood clots in his heart that would involved taking a look at the heart, using something called an echocardiogram, to see, are there blood clots hanging around the heart, could they possibly be flaking off and going to the brain. Might he need to be on medications to thin his blood a little bit. That's sort of what's probably happening right now in the hospital.
As far as long term, if it's one of these things that they find, they address, he may not have to worry about this again. If it's something that they don't know exactly what it is, he may need to be on medications. He may need to be monitored a little bit more closely. But the real goal is try to prevent a second stroke from happening.
CHETRY: Scary stuff, you know. And a lot of times people ignore some of the symptoms. What should you be looking out for?
GUPTA: Yes, you're absolutely right. And I think that's the biggest concern among people in the neuroworld is that people have some sort of symptom and they ignore it. And as a result, the possible effective treatment simply is not given within the appropriate window.
The best way to think, I think, if you think about looking at somebody who you think might be having a stroke, remember the word fast. Take a look if you think about the word fast specifically. You know, look at someone's face. Are they smiling symmetric on both sides. Look for some droop on one side or the other. Their arms, simply have their raise their arms above their head or at least in front of their face, and look to see if one arm starts to fall away. That could be a sign of subtle weakness.
Their speech, have them say their name, simple sentences and look for any kind of slurring. And again, that time factor, Kiran, where we are just talking about. If you are worried, call 911. There's a lot of potential therapies out there that can bust up clots for example, that are causing some sort of blockage. But again, time is crucial for using those medications.
CHETRY: All right. Some good advice this morning. Great to see you, Sanjay. Thanks.
GRIFFIN: After trading very sharp and very public jabs over war policy, talk could get really heated today at the White House when President Obama welcomes Afghan President Hamid Karzai. It's day two of Karzai's trip. He met with secretary of state Hillary Clinton yesterday. And they were already downplaying their differences, but how tense could things get today once these two allies are behind closed doors?
Let's bring in White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. And Suzanne, that is the big question. You know, there's a big friendly feel publicly. But these guys have been at it behind the scenes.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, absolutely, Drew. One of the things we're going to see here and the goal of these four days of visits with Hamid Karzai is to press the reset button here. The Obama administration has gone through a combination of carrots and sticks and praise, criticism, and trying to work with Hamid Karzai to get him to try to help with the ultimate goal, that is a stable Afghanistan, one in which their own forces could be in charge of security.
And one that allows U.S. forces to leave by July of 2011. So the Obama administration have been criticizing Hamid Karzai for not cracking down on corruption, not going after the drug trade. And on the other end, Drew, we have seen Hamid Karzai very publicly sometimes attacking the United States, blaming U.S. and NATO forces for making things worse. Civilian casualties, he has even threatened to join the Taliban. All of these things have bubbled to the surface here.
And so what is this trip about? It really is about getting these two leaders to sit down, lower the rhetoric, if you will, save face and move forward. Now, I had a chance to talk with Valerie Jarrett, one of the president's top advisers and I pushed her and pressed her on this, whether or not President Obama feels confident and whether he trusts Hamid Karzai as a working partner.
Here is how she put it, Drew.
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VALERIE JARRETT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Well, we have to have a partnership with him. There is absolutely no choice in the matter. We have a huge investment in that country, both in terms of resources and our men and women who are serving there. And so it's an essential partnership that we have to make and we have to work hard to make any improvements that are necessary and make it work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And Drew, when we talked about making it work, they are talking about how quickly can the Afghan government negotiate with the Taliban, figure out who are the good members, who are the bad members and how they can somehow make a government that is stable and that will help with the security and for U.S. forces to withdraw fairly quickly. Drew?
GRIFFIN: Suzanne, from the White House, thank you very much.
CHETRY: Well, a shake-up for America's closest ally. Britain getting a new prime minister, a conservative, David Cameron. But can he build a coalition government? And what does it mean for the relationship between the U.S. and Great Britain. We're going to talk about it live from London in a moment. 38 minutes past the hour.
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GRIFFIN: First full day on the job for England's new prime minister, David Cameron. The torch was passed yesterday after Gordon Brown resigned ending more than a decade of rule by his Labour Party. Cameron, a conservative, said he wants to form a coalition government with the liberal democrats. So what does this mean for the changing of the guard here in the U.S.?
Joining me now James Rubin, former assistant secretary of state and Michael Elliott, editor of "Time" magazine international. Michael, first tell us, who is this guy that Britain has now elected?
MICHAEL ELLIOTT, EDITOR "TIME" MAGAZINE INTERNATIONAL: He's a young man, at least he's young by my standards.
GRIFFIN: Exactly. His wife is having a baby.
ELLIOTT: He's the youngest prime minister of Britain since 1812. He's 43. He's spent most of his life in politics. He had a brief spell as PR to a major broadcasting company in Britain but other than that since he graduated from Oxford University, he spent most of his life in politics either as an adviser or as a member of parliament. He comes from a relatively privileged background. Went to Eaton, which is the most well known private school in Britain and then Oxford University.
Very smart, very bright. Very personable. Has a wife and they are expecting their third child. Tragically, he lost a young son who was six when he died a couple of years ago. So he's new, he's smart. He's actually been leader of the opposition now for getting on for four years. So people have had the kind of good, long look at him. But he will be governing in very, very different circumstances from any other prime minister because he will be heading a former coalition, which has not been seen for a very long time.
GRIFFIN: Which is going to be interesting but Jamie, he is also a conservative. I mean, the opposition party has been the conservative party, is this a big seat change in terms of how England is going to be governed and also the relationship between now a conservative government in the U.K. and a liberal government here?
JAMES RUBIN, FMR. ASST. SECRETARY OF STATE: Let's put this in perspective, I've lived in London for several years and I think it's fair to say that all of their parties could fit comfortably in what we call the democratic party. They all believe in national health insurance. None of them want to see gun control eliminated. They don't believe in the death penalty. They believe in global warming.
So they are all broadly speaking what we would call democrats. Where they are different, I think is going to come on economic matters. And that is that this new government has said that there is too much government spending. There's too many social services, too much government programs. Huge chunk of Britain's economy, over 50 percent is in the public sector.
So they're going to have to make big, big cuts. And I think the good thing is in America we're always talking about the need for bipartisanship, why can't we all just come together and solve our problems? Well, if these liberal democrats can get together with the conservatives in Britain and make these cuts together and share the pain, it's possible that Britain can go through the difficult cutting of their deficit with a shared responsibility.
Because if they don't do that, Britain has some serious, serious problems. As far as American relations are concerned, I don't see any problem here at all. Both party's policies are very consistent with what President Obama wanted to do on Afghanistan and on cuts on nuclear weapons. And let's face it, all of these three parties, the conservatives, Labour and the social liberal democrats in Britain, their criticisms of America were mostly criticisms of President Bush. And all three of them are largely comfortable with President Obama's international policy.
GRIFFIN: Do you agree with that, Michael?
ELLIOTT: I agree with every word of it. Indeed, David Cameron has said a number of times how much he admires President Obama. I mean, he's been quite explicit about it.
GRIFFIN: Let me ask you this, is this a possible model for what's to come in the U.S., a coalition government, bipartisanship finally?
ELLIOTT: No. I don't think it is. I mean, what made this possible in Britain, we had the development in the last 20 or 25 years the third party was broadly disbursed national support ran about a quarter of the electorate but because of British system of elections, which, incidentally, is exactly the same as we have here, when you have a broadly disbursed third party, it doesn't win an awful lot of seats.
What hasn't happened before is that that third party has gone into a formal coalition with the largest party, the Conservative Party. We have no (INAUDIBLE) here. We have no prospect, I think, of having a moderate, centrist third party here of that sort.
So I don't think - I agree absolutely with everything that Jamie said. I mean, I think this is a very hopeful moment for British politics because you share the pain, because you get people who are broadly within the same political position but from slightly different wings, working together. But I don't think it's (INAUDIBLE) with what we can see here.
GRIFFIN: Well, gentlemen, thanks for joining us this morning. The president's invited him to come to the White House in July.
RUBIN: The first phone call came from President Obama.
GRIFFIN: First phone call, so they're trying to get off on the right track, at least, across the pond. Thank you very much. Jamie, Michael, thank you so much - Kiran.
RUBIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, the second dome taking the plunge into the Gulf of Mexico right now. It's a much smaller one, known as a top hat. It's the last best chance for a quick solution to the growing oil spill disaster.
We're going to be checking in with our Reynolds Wolf. He's along the Mississippi Coast where the owners of an oyster processing plant just delivered some very tough news to the staff.
And we're also going to check in with Jacqui Jeras after the break. She's following the morning travel forecast, severe weather on tap for a big part of the country today. We're going to tell you where and whether or not it will affect your flights.
Forty-six minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome, Tampa, Florida. Hey, we just want (ph) to be there today. It's 68 right now, sunny, and it's going to be 91. better than what we're looking at here in New York.
GRIFFIN: Yes, what are we looking like? It's pouring rain when I came in this morning.
Let's go to Jacqui Jeras at 7:49 to get a quick look at this morning's weather headlines. Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.
Yes, I don't know if that makes you happy to see a bright, sunshiny picture or if it makes you feel bad because most of the rest of the country not dealing with that lovely weather that they're seeing there in Tampa.
The worst of the nation's weather, right here in the nation's midsection, especially across the middle Mississippi River Valley into the Ohio Valley, we've got training (ph) thunderstorms, one right after the other, blowing on through, and that is bringing in some heavy downpours and some flash flooding across the area. Nothing really severe right now.
We're getting some isolated stronger storms just north of I-64, pushing over the Indiana state line there, and that's where we're going to see some of those heaviest rainfall accumulations, flashflood warnings in effect in the bright red, you have - includes you in St. Louis, and you've got that - another line just to your west. That's going to be blowing on through very shortly, so take it easy as you head out the door and head to work this morning.
OK, the rain in the northeast not nearly as heavy, just some light to moderate showers for the most part, making it kind of a cool, damp day for you. This is going to pull out of New York, we think, and then see some occasional light rain showers, maybe through mid afternoon before you start to clear up.
Airport delays will be abundant, we think, in the northeast, though hopefully you'll stay under the 60-minute mark. Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco, looking 30 to 60 minutes, and Chicago O'Hare, by the way, now reporting 45-minute arrival delays. We are expecting more severe weather in the nation's midsection. That's in addition to what you already have here across Missouri. Things should be developing we think late this afternoon and this evening, and, yes, we could see more of those tornadoes, unfortunately.
One last note, Kiran and Drew, is that we had an earthquake that might have woken a few people up early this morning in Charleston, South Carolina, a 2.8 magnitude, not strong enough, really, to cause much for damage but a few people I'm sure felt that one.
CHETRY: All right. Well, good thing no damage, but wow. What a way to wake up.
JERAS: Yes.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras - feel the earth move. All right. Thanks.
Your top stories just minutes away, including we're following the latest on a plane crash in Libya this morning. All that's left right now is smoldering debris. Somehow, though, in the midst of this tragedy, an 8-year-old boy survives.
We have breaking details ahead.
GRIFFIN: And also, how is the Pakistani Taliban not on the State Department's terror list? The stunning omission of this group that is now linked to the Times Square car bomb attempt.
CHETRY: And there's an out-of-control satellite up in space. There is a date where they say that it could actually affect your televisions. Talk about when and for how long.
It's 52 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fifty- five minutes past the hour right now.
We want to read a couple of e-mails. We've been asking the question, because there have been some companies or actually some Facebook sites calling for a boycott of the company BP in the wake of this oil spill. They have about, what -
GRIFFIN: Thirteen thousand members on a Facebook page.
CHETRY: On the Boycott BP Facebook page, and we've been getting some e-mails about it. We asked the question, would you boycott BP? Here's one. "Get Real" says, common sense tells us that accidents will happen no matter how much pre-planning we do. To boycott BP is as foolish as it is to stick a screwdriver into an electrical socket.
GRIFFIN: Blythe says, I have and will continue to boycott BP gas stations. I was a faithful customer, says Blythe, for years, but as a native of Louisiana, I do not like the matter of fact attitude the company is taking in the face of such a disaster. I don't see the remorse on the face of any BP rep.
Let the oil lobbyists take my place at their gas pumps.
CHETRY: And Cecilia writes, I already am boycotting BP. This disaster is unforgivable, especially now that we all know BP has no idea how to stop the massive leak and the contamination to me. They're done.
GRIFFIN: Finally, David in New York says, boycotting BP, not the answer. Ensuring that the company pays for full cost of the cleanup plus leaving a sizable sum in escrow for additional unforeseen need remedies in the future.
CHETRY: And that's something they have not actually given a definite answer on, whether or not they're going to pay for everything.
GRIFFIN: That's right.
CHETRY: Not only the cleanup but the economic impact.
GRIFFIN: Keep the comments coming. How do you feel about BP? We want to hear from you, of course. Head to our blog at CNN.com/amFIX. Talk about anything, really, right?
CHETRY: Yes. And it is now three minutes till the top of the hour. We're going to be back in a moment with your top stories.
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