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American Morning
New Terror Threat; Insurgent Dressed Like Soldiers; Rand On Segregation; Dow Correction; Pakistani Taliban Threat; Clinton in Asia; Navajo Turning to Technology
Aired May 21, 2010 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday. It's May 21st. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us.
Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
Was the failed Times Square bombing just the first wave? An intelligence official now saying the Pakistani Taliban may already be plotting a new terrorists attack on the United States. some of that information said to be coming from Faisal Shahzad himself.
CHETRY: Plus, the enemy dressed like our soldiers. CNN learning that insurgents who launched an assault on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan were wearing uniforms that looked like U.S. army fatigues. Four were also wearing suicide vests that were never detonated.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr tracking the latest this morning.
ROBERTS: And all eyes on Wall Street this morning, the market now officially in a correction, the Dow surrendering 10 percent of its worth since last month. And the sellout continued overnight overseas, leaving a lot of investors wondering this morning just how low can it go.
CHETRY: And of course the AMFix blog up and running. Join the live conversation now by going to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: First, this morning, though, new information on a growing terror threat. An intelligence official telling CNN that the Pakistani Taliban is still plotting to strike the United States after it came so close on May 1st in Times Square.
Our Jeanne Meserve is working her sources in Washington and joins us now live with what she's finding out.
And, Jeanne, we saw this videotape not too long after the Times Square attack from the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. Was it just natural to connect the dots here?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, apparently, it was. And there was more, too.
A U.S. official tells CNN that U.S. intelligence has strong reason to believe that the Pakistani Taliban is actively plotting to hit the U.S. homeland and American interests overseas. The threat information is not so detailed that it names specific cities, the official said. But it comes from multiple streams of intelligence including from Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted bombing of Times Square. Administration officials have linked Shahzad to the Pakistan Taliban, the TTP.
And a source says that during a trip earlier this week, CIA Director Leon Panetta and national security adviser, Jim Jones, relayed a new terror threat information to the Pakistani government, John.
ROBERTS: Jeanne, all of this comes as the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, is expected to announce his resignation today. What's going on there?
MESERVE: Yes, not propitious timing here. He will be handing in his resignation today effective next Friday.
Although President Obama praised Blair in a written statement, it's no secret that there had been tensions between Blair and the White House. One source familiar with the situation says Blair's candor created friction and that the White House didn't like Blair's vision of what the DNI should be.
In addition, congressional sources say that turf wars with CIA Director Leon Panetta, which Blair lost, made him, quote, "an unhappy camper." There have also been two recent close calls, of course, the Times Square bombing and the attempt on Christmas Day to bring down an airliner. Blair, as coordinator of the nation's 16 intelligence agencies has taken some blame for those.
A report on the botched Christmas Day attack issued just days ago by the Senate Intelligence Committee highlighted 14 points of failure and said that the National Counterterrorism Center which Blair oversees was not organized properly to fulfill its mission.
Though Blair's resignation isn't even in yet, the White House has already spoken with two potential replacements, John Hamre, a defense official in the Clinton administration, and General Jim Clapper, defense undersecretary for intelligence -- John.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning from Washington with an update on all that -- Jeanne, thanks so much.
MESERVE: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, there's some new information coming into CNN overnight on the brazen attack on the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. At least two Pentagon sources now say that insurgents were wearing U.S. Army-looking fatigues as they approached the base and opened fire.
Our Barbara Starr is working her sources this morning and she joins us on the phone with the very latest.
What are the implications if indeed that is the case, that they were wearing fatigues that either were or looked like army fatigues?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Kiran, it shows that these attackers had a very well thought out, very well-coordinated plan according to U.S. military officials. Why do we say U.S. army-style battle fatigues? Well, we at least don't know whether they were actually army uniforms, perhaps stolen, perhaps lost at some point, or sort of counterfeit, if you will, uniforms that may have been purchased on the black market in Afghanistan or on the Internet.
Nonetheless, some of the attackers were wearing these battle- style fatigues, carrying AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades. Our sources telling us they approached Bagram at three different points, opening fire, carrying gear that is very much, as one source said, in the Middle Eastern fashion, ammo belts, the kind of battle that accessories that are seen in Middle Eastern fighters.
And there was also (AUDIO BREAK) we are told that this was a well-coordinated attack executed by the Haqqani network. That, of course, by Siraj Haqqani, one of the most wanted insurgent leaders in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the real king pin, if you will, of suicide attacks, suicide car bomb attacks. A lot of concern about what he may be up to next, Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us this morning with the latest information from Frankfurt, Germany -- thanks.
ROBERTS: We've got breaking news to tell you about this morning. A deadly three-truck accident has shut down a long 26-mile stretch of the New Jersey turnpike in the southern part of the state. Northbound lanes are closed between interchanges 4 and 7a. That's around Philadelphia and Six Flags there.
A turnpike spokesperson tells us that one person was killed, another critically injured. Three trucks were involved, one hauling 8,000 gallons of kerosene. Officials hope to have traffic moving again by the top of this hour though.
CHETRY: Well, while B.P. prepares to try to stop the oil spill in the Gulf this week and the White House is announcing a new priority, assigning a team to determine once and for all, exactly how much crude is being spilled. As for that 24-hour live video feed of the spill that B.P. promised to have up and running, well, let's take a look right now. It is finally online for the world so see.
But unfortunately, the damage to the environment is beginning to mount. And, now, as you can see it from the video taken from Elmer's Island, Louisiana. We'll see that in a second here. That's still the live feed.
But Elmer's Island is about 70 miles west of the mount of the Mississippi. And right now, a four-mile stretch of the beach there is coated in thick, syrupy crude oil.
ROBERTS: In about a half an hour's time, we're going to be joined by Massachusetts congressman, Ed Markey. He has been pressuring B.P. to provide that live feed of the spill for everyone to see. The oil company has agreed to do it. It's up and it's live- streaming this morning. We're going to examine how all of that is working out this morning at 8:40. That's a little more than half an hour from now.
CHETRY: Also this morning, a stunning scientific achievement that could lead to new cures for diseases, new ways to fuel cars. Scientists in Maryland have successfully produced a living cell that's powered by manmade DNA.
ROBERTS: It's being hailed as the world's first synthetic cell. It's self-replicates. Its parent, by the way, is a computer and it could be a giant step towards achieving the goal that is long been considered the stuff of science fiction, and that is the creation of artificial life.
The White House is watching this very closely. The president wants to know how the government can help to make sure that the American people benefit from it as quickly as possible.
CHETRY: Exciting, yet scary.
ROBERTS: Yes, all at the same time.
CHETRY: Well, seven minutes past the hour right now. Jacqui Jeras joins us.
You know, sometimes, it just makes you wonder, though, Jacqui. They can figure out how to do that but we can't figure out how to shut off this oil spilling out of the Gulf. It's unbelievable.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, don't get me started there. We could talk all day on that one.
Let's talk weather, shall we? And we've got some stormy conditions to start you out with for today. And we're really focusing in on the southeast where we have had torrential downpours and we've had quite a bit of urban flooding in the Atlanta metro area.
And you can see more thunderstorms developing across parts of northern Alabama and Mississippi. And that's going to be training across the same area. So, a good one to three inches expected here.
Across the northern tier, we're looking at some lighter rain showers, but enough to cause some wet roadways from Milwaukee over towards the Detroit area. Ahead of that system, though, beautiful, warm conditions in the northeast, lots of sunshine, temperatures in the 80s today.
Let's look at the weekend, we'll tell you more about that what you can expect -- coming up with your forecast.
ROBERTS: We appreciate it very much. Thanks so much, Jacqui.
Well, it's like Super Bowl weekend for fans of the hit show "Lost." ABC planning hours of pre-game and post-game, plenty of time to geek out for all you folks out there, and I suppose here, before the 2 1/2-hour finale.
CHETRY: Yes. And reality is also starting to set in for those who love the hit show. There isn't enough time to answer everything, unless maybe they go all back in time once again.
So, our Kareen Wynter takes a look at what people are expecting -- and there are no spoilers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should take your friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very close to the end, Hugo.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Indeed, we are. After six seasons, audiences will finally see the last of "Lost."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, where are we?
WYNTER: Fans are still waiting for answers to questions like that from the very beginning "Lost" teased and tormented its viewers with mystery after mystery. Now, it's biggest one will be answered. How does it all end?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then, I'm tell you everything you need to know about protecting this island.
WYNTER: For six years, fans have debated, argued and wondered what it all meant, online, at conventions and viewing parties.
Now, at the end, it is beginning to sink in. There is no way the finale can resolve everything.
PETER SCALES, "LOST" FAN: I have no idea what's going to happen at the end of show and I love that.
LISETTE LAMBERT LOPEZ, "LOST" FAN: You feel like they are not going to answer all the questions and I think that's OK because -- I mean, it's part of the show, you know, to be lost.
OMAR ZIE, "LOST" FAN: "Lost," it was good. I was tricked. We all were. I mean, "Lost," come on -- they tricked us. Just entertain me. This one, my expectations, we're going to keep it minimal.
WYNTER: The need to satisfy all those expectations wasn't lost on the cast.
JOSH HOLLOWAY, "SAWYER": I was worried for them, myself. I didn't want anyone to, you know, be attacked by a lynch mob.
SONYA WALGER, "PENNY": You need to come at it with like an open heart, rather than with a curious mind. If you're looking for specifics, then you might be left feeling wanting. If you are looking for an emotional resolution, I think you'll be really happy with what you get.
WYNTER: So, will the finale ambiguous like "The Sopranos"? Disappointing like "Seinfeld"? Maybe a "MASH"-style tearjerker?
Like the characters on their favorite show, "Lost" fans have faith they will finally find what they're looking for. One thing is for sure, Tuesdays will never be the same.
YASAMIN SUBAT, "LOST" FAN: We don't know what we're going to do. We have no idea. I mean, we got to pick another show. But I don't think there's another show that can quite capture this.
ZIE: We're not going to get all the answers but, thank you, "Lost" for having us.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So, are you a fan?
CHETRY: I just figured I came into it too late. I guess we will have to grab the DVDs because everyone raves about it.
ROBERTS: I missed the, you know, the bulk of the drug culture of the 1960s. So, this is, you know, a good second guess.
CHETRY: You missed it or you don't remember it.
ROBERTS: I missed most of it. I figured that I think they are just making this stuff up as they go along. And what can we do at this --
CHETRY: If they leave their beloved fans hanging as much as "Soprano" fans felt after the end of that one, I don't know.
ROBERTS: Yes. But, you know, now, "The Sopranos'" ending is being seen as elegantly tantalizing. People were really angry at first. But now, they look back and they say, hmm, that was a good way to end it. So, see, they've explained a lot in the last few episodes. But you're right, a lot of loose ends to tie up.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead: a rocky launch for Rand Paul. You know, he was the long-shot candidate last year, ended up pulling up a win, thanks to the tea party. But some of his own words ended up getting him in some hot water. He was sort of explaining himself after what's turning into a Civil Rights Bill firestorm of sorts.
Eleven minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fourteen minutes past the hour right now.
And this morning, top intelligence official, Dennis Blair, says he will resign.
And the talk in Washington is continuing to swirl around GOP Senate candidate, Rand Paul, about some comments and remarks about segregation.
ROBERTS: We are putting the spotlight on this week's politics with our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley, host of "STATE OF THE UNION."
You want Candy, we have got her. And she's here this morning.
How about Rand Paul, what a way to start off your political career?
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": See, politics is not as easy as it looks. I think that's the first lesson. I mean, he is as green as they come. This is something that the Republican leadership who posed Paul's election, we should say, feared, that he's green. And he is. But you learn -- you learn quick, and maybe by this fall, it will have gone away. But it was a big mistake.
CHETRY: What did he do wrong?
CROWLEY: Well, first of all, he went on a cable network, not known for its conservatism. Usually, what you do, especially when you are a green politician, is go where the friendlies are. You don't get involved and you don't relitigate the Civil Rights Act. I mean, it's just -- that's craziness.
So, what he seemed to indicate in an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC -- well, he did more than indicate, he sort of said that he might have opposed parts of the Civil Rights Act or the Civil Rights Act because he didn't think that the government should be telling private businesses that they couldn't discriminate. It is law. I mean this is 1965. All you have to do is say, I support the Civil Rights Act.
ROBERTS: He did it on NPR as well, two places but he was forced to walk it back, clarify what he said. He issued a statement saying that he would not support efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act. And you would think that the last thing, particularly as a new politician, you would ever want to be doing is issuing a clarification on your position vis-a-vis a repeal of the Civil Rights Act.
CROWLEY: Of 1965. Hello.
ROBERTS: Hello.
CROWLEY: Exactly. This is how you learn. It's initiation by fire is just not something a seasoned politician would do but it is the year of the unseasoned politician. CHETRY: Is the larger issue here that the bottom line is he is green because he is willing to speak the truth about what he believes. See that's the problem is that that's considered a political liability. So people never really feel as though they understand candidates. All of the people who have been around Washington and have been around politics say it is a mistake to, basically, say what you think.
CROWLEY: Listen, I think there is a difference between, you know, you want your politicians to be truthful. I think you are exactly right. I think there is part of that is that lesson. But the other thing is, there is no sense in talking about Civil Rights Legislation. If you want to talk about --
CHETRY: It was asked about.
CROWLEY: It was asked, it was sort of a theoretical --
CHETRY: It was theoretical because he is libertarian.
CROWLEY: -- discussion because he is libertarian, but also there had been some remarks he had made in the past that were being pushed by the Democrats. And you know, he was asked about it. He walked right in. It is not that it is not a legitimate question. Of course, it is interesting. You want to know, how does this person think.
You know, in some ways, it is a great question. This person needs to be able to think on their feet and understand that the Republican Party in 2010 under whose banner he is now going to march would prefer not to have, and this is really probably the biggest thing that went wrong, is he forced all these Republican Party leaders into talking about, oh, well, do you denounce him or do you think the Civil Rights act ought to be repealed? It was like a day when the Republicans just wanted to go shut the door.
ROBERTS: What about this thing with Dennis Blair, director of National Intelligence, resigning today? Did President Obama just not get along with him?
CROWLEY: Well, certainly, that's what we know. Jeanne Meserve has done some great reporting on this, that there has been friction all along. That the two men disagreed on what the basic job description was, which is sort of a problem. Blair thought it was one thing. And the President thought it was something else. And the President wins every time.
CHETRY: The other problem seemed to be, the what exactly the DNI is supposed to do. In the wake of 9/11 it was created to streamline the 16 intelligence agencies. But is seems to, some critics at least say, just add another layer of bureaucracy.
CROWLEY: Well, that was really the -- from the very beginning, I don't know if you remember, but Republicans kind of opposed the idea of this new sort of regulatory -- not regulatory, I'm in the oil spill -- this new kind of agency to coordinate saying exactly that. It's just another form of bureaucracy. And so the question was, is this the top spy guy or is this the chief coordinator guy? And it never was completely clear. Blair sort of saw it as the premier spy guy. Obviously, this administration thought it more of a coordinating thing. And let's face it, the last couple of times we have seen terrorist incidents, over the skies over at Detroit, here in Times Square, there has been a somewhat of a lack of talking back and forth.
ROBERTS: We have to go but quickly. Who do you have on this weekend?
CROWLEY: Ed Rendell is going to come talk politics with us, the governor of Pennsylvania. As well as Tim Pawlenty on the other side, another governor. They are going to explain to us what last Tuesday meant.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it. Always great to see you, Candy. Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Thanks, Candy. And again, be sure to watch Candy Crowley on "State Of The Union" Sunday morning at 9:00 eastern, right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: You want candy, you got it every week. A wave of uncertainty as the market slips on fears that there could be some sort of a meltdown in Europe, Greece, Portugal, Spain. It's just a typical Wall Street Journal, is it the typical Wall Street jitters rather or is this something more serious? We will find out coming up next. Jeff Sachs joins us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. If you have not had a chance to check your 401(k) lately, you might maybe want to sit down first or just take that envelope and shred it before you look at it and wait a few months. We are now officially in a stock market correction, bears running wild again on Wall Street. The Dow giving back another 376 points yesterday. Concerns about Europe and moves to regulate Wall Street all contributing to the meltdown.
Joining us now is Jeff Sachs. He is the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, special adviser to the secretary- general of the United Nations. Good morning to you.
JEFFREY SACHS, SPECIAL ADVISER TO U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Good morning.
ROBERTS: So all this stuff that's going on in Europe, with debt and rescues, in the trillion dollars, is this a minor bump in the road or could this potentially be something really serious that affects our economy here?
SACHS: I think it is pretty serious. And it comes on top of a lot of uncertainties about our own economy. Some people are saying this is Europe infecting the U.S. But actually it is more complicated than that. We are not out of the woods at all. Remember, our massive budget deficits, our nearly 10% unemployment rate, huge question of what the consumers are going to do because there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety among American consumers. So, we have a crisis in Europe and the United States. They are both impinging, then the uncertainties about the financial markets. It all adds up into quite a mess.
ROBERTS: You know, Jeff, when this rescue plan was first announced, Wall Street said, they have got a plan. The stock market went up. People sat back and said, oh, gosh, what if it doesn't work? What if Greece, Portugal and Spain can't handle their debt problem? What potentially could happen if that comes to pass and this rescue package doesn't work?
SACHS: I think it is going to work in the sense that it won't force Greece into an outright default. Of course, if it didn't work in the sense that these countries can't borrow again on the financial market, they would go into default. This would lead to greater anxiety, losses of the banks, further squeeze of credit, a double dip. That's what people are afraid of. I don't think the worst is going to happen. But we know how markets just swing from huge optimism to huge pessimism. They seem not have an anchor. This is what is so damaging and dangerous about our time right now. But also, we don't have a medium-term strategy in this country. We don't have a clear direction of where we are heading right now. We have huge budget deficits. Europe has huge budget deficits. I think the politicians need to do better, much better, to help secure a stable recovery by giving a clear path of where we are heading. We don't have that right now.
ROBERTS: Not too many days ago, a lot of Wall Street analysts were saying, hey, buy your stocks now because the Dow is going to be 12,000 before we know it, maybe even back up to 14,000. They were looking at some really good times. And now, it's going the other way, and again raising fears. And you have mentioned, alluded to this just a second ago of a double dip recession. What are the chances that this actually does turn into another downturn?
SACHS: I think if you look at the fundamentals in the U.S., we have a massive budget deficit, 10% of GNP. We have never had anything like this.
ROBERTS: It is scary. It is frightening.
SACHS: And given that, there is a lot of uncertainty. And we are not past that. We have 9.9% unemployment rate. It could go higher. So, there is a lot of intrinsic uncertainty. In a way, the administration has said, well, stimulus and low interest rates, somehow we will get through this. But, it's a gamble. And I think we need something more and deeper to help guide us through the current uncertainty.
ROBERTS: So knowing what you know of the markets and the economic cycle, would you predict that we are going to go back down into a recession. Do you think we will be headed for negative growth?
SACHS: I think we are going to have a bumpy period ahead. And when we start ourselves to focus on the budget deficits like Europe is now doing, this is going to add to even more tumult in this country. We are not good at making the kinds of adjustments that we see being undertaken and debated in Europe right now. When it comes back here raising taxes, cutting spending, it is going to be pretty ferocious. That will add to uncertainty. So, there is not clear sailing.
ROBERTS: In the Financial Regulatory Reform Bill that passed yesterday, that was part of why the market went down. But how much of that really is a measurable structural impact on the financial services industry and how much of it is just Wall Street whining about new regulation.
SACHS: Well, remember, that what's happened yesterday is that the senate has passed a version. There is a house version. The two have input together. You can imagine how much lobbying money is going to be spent in the next six weeks before this goes to a final vote.
So we don't know yet. There is something in here. There is control of derivatives. There is some consumer protection. How strong it is going to be by the time it really sees the final light of day is anybody's guess.
But one thing we can guess in our country is that lobbyists do their job. And boy is Wall Street spending a lot of money right now to try to evade their responsibility. So I hope that we keep some teeth in this legislation. Because it was the lack of regulation that helped get us into this very deep rut we are in.
ROBERTS: Jeff, always great to see you. Thanks for coming by this morning. Appreciate it.
SACHS: Glad to be with you, thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, we are talking more about the oil spill in the Gulf and whether or not B.P. can be trusted, first of all, to disclose the scope of the disaster, but also to clean it up safely and quickly. We are going to be speaking with Representative Ed Markey. He is the Congressman who is the reason why there is a live feed of the underwater spill available for people to even look at.
We are going to be talking to him about what the federal government's role may be in this cleanup and investigation. It is 29 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour right now. Time for a look at the top stories this morning.
And the U.S. is on alert for another terror plot. An intelligence official telling CNN that the Pakistani Taliban is not giving up on trying to strike the U.S. and is plotting right now. The official says that they're basing with information on something provided by accused Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, as well as other quote, "streams of Intel."
ROBERTS: Secretary Hillary Clinton is in Asia as the crisis between North and South Korea intensifies, first Japan, then China, and South Korea. Clinton was supposed to focus on U.S./China economic issues that was before South Korea accused the North of firing a torpedo that sunk a naval warship back in March killing 46 sailors.
CHETRY: And a huge accident shutting down 26 miles of the New Jersey turnpike. It's in the northbound lanes. They're closed between interchanges 4 and 7-A in the southern part of the state. There you see the truck is overturned. It involved three different trucks. The turnpike spokesman tells us that one person was killed, another critically injured. One of those trucks was hauling 8,000 gallons of kerosene which they still have to try to clean up before they can open up the lanes again. They've been diverting traffic going north bound to Interstate 295 and Route 130. They're still saying they hope to have the lanes reopened in the next half hour.
ROBERTS: Was it a sin to try to save a woman's life? That question is at the very heart of an emotional, moral debate going on right now.
CHETRY: It involves a nun who was thrown out of the Catholic Church for approving an abortion for a dying patient. Carol Costello has this "AM Original" for us live from Washington. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. It was an agonizing decision for all involved. A 27-year-old patient at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona became gravely ill. She was pregnant, and doctors told her, unless, she aborted her 11-week-old fetus, she would die.
The problem, she was in a Catholic hospital where abortions are largely prohibited. It was up to an ethics board that included Sister Margaret McBride to make the call. After discussing the matter with the patient and her family, Sister McBride and doctors gave the okay to terminate the pregnancy.
The woman survived, but Sister McBride took some heat. The Catholic diocese, the Phoenix diocese and Bishop Thomas Olmsted automatically excommunicated the nun banning her from participating in the church because said Bishop Olmsted, an unborn child is not a disease. While medical professionals should certainly try to save a pregnant mother's life, the means by which they do it can never be directly killing her unborn child. It was an ex communication heard around the world.
Many rushed to Sister McBride's defense because experts in Canon Law say that under the church's ethical guideline, sometimes, procedures that could indirectly kill the fetus are allowed in order to save the mother's life. A group called Catholics for Choice for obvious reasons says Bishop Olmsted's actions are problematic for all catholic hospitals and their patients.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN O'BRIEN, CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE: If those medical personnel are going to be intimidated, does that mean that catholic hospitals are no longer safe places, because it's the bishop who dictates what happens or what doesn't happen as opposed to the people who actually know what they're doing and can act in the best interest of the woman and her family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Sources tell me Sister McBride has since met the requirements to have the ex communication lifted, but she has been reassigned at St. Joseph's. The hospital stands by her but says she will fill another important role at St. Joseph's. Neither Sister McBride nor Bishop Olmsted would appear on camera. Soon, this story will be posted on our blog, CNN.com/AMFix. I'd really like you to weigh in on this. What do you think, this is an emotional decision for all involved, a tough decision, and of course, you know, such a gray area, who's right? Who's wrong? CNN.com/AMFix.
ROBERTS: So, what your sense (ph) in this, Carol? Is this going to be remain a local issue or are there broader implications here that might be taken up by the Vatican?
COSTELLO: The Canon lawyers I spoke with said this is very unusual to excommunicate a nun for every reason, and usually, bishops don't become so involve intimately at hospital matters. So, many experts are hoping that this will remain a local issue, but other say it's part of the Vatican's more conservative bent especially in the area of abortion. We'll just have to see.
ROBERTS: All right. Carol Costello this morning. Remarkable story, Carol, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, can BP be trusted? Congressman Ed Markey on the oil leak estimate. Fact he (ph) was dead wrong he said before a congressional committee a week ago that BP just seems to be kind of making this up as they go along. The congressman coming right up. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Thirtyy-seven, almost 38 minutes after the hour. When it comes to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, size apparently does matter to the White House now. The president wants to know how much crude is really gushing from that broken well, and he is dispatching a team of experts to find out once and for all.
CHETRY: In the meantime, BP has finally agreed to let the world see what they've been watching all along. The live feed of the spewing crude a mile underneath the sea that's in part -- because of Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts who asked and demanded that that be put up so people can see it. He joins us now from Washington. Thanks for being with us this morning, Congressman.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY, (D-MA) CHAIRMAN OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND GLOBAL WARMING: Thank you.
CHETRY: So, you've been badgering BP to make this video feed public calling it the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of the U.S. Up until this morning, about maybe, I guess, 45 minutes ago, it was black. When you went to the website, you couldn't actually see the video. Now, we can see it again. But the bottom line is the federal government getting in too late on this? I mean, there have been engineers who have been saying that this number has been wildly underestimated since the very beginning. Why are they just demanding answers now a month out?
MARKEY: Well, I have been asking for BP to make this live feed available to the American people and to scientists all around the world. And I had a hearing on Wednesday bringing in the scientists. Each of them said that 5,000 barrels per day was an absolutely ridiculously low number and that it was at least 40,000, 50,000, perhaps upwards of 100,000 barrels per day. And so, I was trying to put more pressure on BP to finally release this.
And once you see it, you realize that this is a gusher coming out of the bottom of the sea. And while they are making some progress and they now say that they are actually capturing 5,000 barrels per day, it's obvious that that's just a small fraction of what is now spewing into the Gulf and that will inform us in terms of what our response capability is going to have to be in the weeks and months ahead.
ROBERTS: And BP still refusing to come up with some sort of a new estimate, Congressman, on how much oil is out there. They say we want to focus on shutting this well down. Not have much oil is out there in the Gulf. What do you think of that attitude?
MARKEY: I think it's irresponsible, first of all. They should have made this public right from the beginning. It's obvious that they are trying to limit information in order to protect themselves against legal liability, but unfortunately, the livelihoods of people in the Gulf region are going to be impacted by that. And I think that it's now time for us just to say that BP has mismanaged this entire incident from day one.
They should not be trusted going forward with the representations which they make. They should not be allowed to make the key decisions, and they have to be monitored. And I think that's why it's important that this live feed of the gusher from the bottom of the ocean be seen by everyone at all times, because that is the one sure guaranteed way to keep the pressure on BP to solve this problem.
CHETRY: But you're still saying it's on BP to solve the problem. I mean, when does it become something that the federal government should take over? That the White House needs to have a more active role? I mean, do you have any criticisms of how the administration and the Congress has handled this?
MARKEY: Well, again, the White House has been all over this right from the very beginning, but it's very clear that BP has not been telling the truth. That is at the core of this problem.
ROBERTS: Congressman --
MARKEY: BP has been in possession of the information, but BP has refused to allow it to be disseminated in a way that would allowed for informed decisions to be made so we can respond properly to this disaster.
ROBERTS: Congressman, let's talk about these dispersants because I know that you wrote a letter to the EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, earlier this week criticizing the use of Corexit. We learned there has been another dispersant, tens of thousands of gallons of exceeding just outside of a warehouse in Texas. There is toxicity to this Corexit that is now just really come to everyone's attention, although, environmentalists were talking about it before.
It is less effective than some of the other dispersants out there. On this issue of dispersant, should all of this have been known before they released even a bucket load of this stuff into the Gulf?
MARKEY: My belief is that we should have used the least toxic, most effective chemical, right from the very beginning. Again, the problem, BP was allowed to make the initial decision. They should not have been allowed to make that decision. Now --
CHETRY: Who should have seen to it, Congressman, that they were not allowed to make that decision because now we have a month out. The EPA saying stop using it and start using this other one that you ordered three weeks ago. Why is that just happening now?
MARKEY: There was an approved list of chemicals, but when I saw the chemicals that were on that list, I wrote a letter to the EPA. I asked them to create a new formula that did, in fact, ensure that it was the least toxic and most effective chemical. And as a result, they have now announced that BP only has 72 hours to come up with a new strategy for the dispersant which they are going to use, and it will be something which is dramatically lower in terms of its toxicity.
ROBERTS: And, Congressman, just to finish this off, here you claim that BP has mismanaged this. Has the federal government also mismanaged this?
MARKEY: I wish that the coast guard had been a little bit less trusting of BP, I have to admit that, but who would think that a company would actually lie about the size of a spill that was going to effect the lives of millions of people. I don't think anyone could expect that, which is why I think going forward, they are very concerned about their legal liability.
CHETRY: Not only about the scope of the spill but just in terms of the chemicals. I mean, that's why we have the EPA. That's why there are federal regulators out there to make sure companies aren't doing things like dumping toxins into the water. And we've seen now that this has been allowed to happen for a month.
MARKEY: Again, there had been a traditional approved list of chemicals, but hey had never been used at these depths of the ocean. And that's why I was concerned and why I basically raised a warning flag that perhaps we should re-examine that particular chemical that was being used and make a determination as to whether or not there was something that was safer. And that is now being done.
ROBERTS: Congressman Ed Markey, good of you to come on this morning. Thanks so much for your time.
MARKEY: Thank you, sir.
ROBERTS: Stormy weather hitting the Midwest and the southeast. Do you want some nice weather? You might want to decide to head into New England today.
Forty-five minutes after the hour. Jacqui Jeras got the weather forecast coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We've got a really nice day in the Northeast. Not so much down in the southeast. Our Jacqui Jeras is watching the weather forecast for us from Atlanta this morning. You're kind of right in the bull's eye of all the bad weather there -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh you're starting to make me grumpy with all your bragging about your good weather.
ROBERTS: Oh well, didn't you have some good weather earlier this week?
JERAS: I know, right? Pay back, right.
It is rather lousy across the Southeast; lovely in the Northeast. So that's going to be the trend throughout the weekend, though you're going to reverse a little bit again before the weekend is over and done with.
We'll start out with the heavy showers and thundershowers that have been just piling through Atlanta all morning long. Take a look at the tower cam. It is just ugly and dreary out there, low, overcast. We're going to see more redevelopment of these thunderstorms as we head into the afternoon hours.
And they are causing some airport delays too. We've got ground stop there in Atlanta and Chicago are looking at delays and we've also got some delays in Washington, D.C. these are departure delays out of the Dulles area.
Now, we're also looking at some light scattered showers across the Great Lakes. This isn't much of a big deal. But we are looking at some light rain showers. And you certainly want to bring the umbrella for you in Detroit into Cleveland later today.
It's a slow-moving storm system. And we're likely going to get a little bit more destabilization in the air atmosphere later on this afternoon. So places like Nashville up towards Evansville and maybe in Indianapolis has a slight risk of seeing these thunderstorms becoming severe later today.
High pressure controlling your weather here across the Northeast and that's what's making things so lovely for you and nothing but sunshine out there today with 82 in New York, Boston, my pick city, 72 degrees and sunny. It's going to be a gorgeous day and starting to get a little hot and sticky across the southern tier.
Ok, it's Friday. It's the weekend. Hooray. You've got some weekend plans. Well, things are looking great across the nation's midsection for the most part for your Saturday. Severe thunderstorms across the high plain states here and the northeast especially New England we think will hold off for Saturday. But that storm system will move up in New York by Sunday. So look for showers and thundershowers over here. And then, we're going to clear it out across the southeast.
So we'll look at some better weather on the weekend when people don't have to work. How about that, guys? Let's send it back to you.
ROBERTS: Well, a lot of people do have to work on the weekend -- Jacqui.
JERAS: Yes, I would be one of those people.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: You were just trying to be nice for everyone else who actually has off, right? All right, hang in there. I hope you don't get too wet. Thanks Jacqui.
Well, rocker, Bret Michaels, as we know he suffered a brain aneurysm, he was very ill for a while. And then he looked like he was making a recovery. He said he was actually going to be back on tour.
Well, now he is sent back to the hospital after a warning stroke. What exactly does this mean for his recovery? We're going to find out.
Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-two minutes past the hour now.
And Bret Michaels is back in the hospital after suffering a so- called warning stroke. Doctors say he has a small hole in his heart, that his condition is operable and treatable. The former Poison front man had numbness on the left side of his body. He says though, he's walking, talking and very happy to be alive. It's unclear if he'll be able to be on this weekend's live finale of "The Celebrity Apprentice".
ROBERTS: Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong is recovering after a nasty crash during the Tour de California. He had to dropout because of a deep cut just under his left eye and he also scraped up his leg and he got some stitches in his elbow, other contusions on his arm. Armstrong also denying new allegations that he has been using performance-enhancing drugs for years; those claims coming from Armstrong's former teammate, cyclist, Floyd Landis, who admitted in recent days, to years of performance-enhancing drugs use on the cycling tour.
CHETRY: Well, millions of hungry Americans rely on food pantries to be able to feed their families. But that can also mean a diet of canned and process foods which many times are not the healthiest of choices.
ROBERTS: This week's CNN hero saw an opportunity to change all that and the solution was in his own backyard. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY OPPENHEIMER, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Pancake mix and syrup.
The system we have in America is you donate canned goods or dry goods to a food bank. Fresh produce is almost never available.
In 2007, I had a very prolific season. I ended up with 40 pounds more vegetables that I could use. So I take it to a pantry. As I left this woman said, now, we can have some fresh produce. I remember thinking, "What is it? They have canned stuff all the time."
Horse radish.
I had an idea about how to not waste food. We're having an ample harvest, the very least we can do is give it to people who need it.
They will be enjoying this tomorrow at the pantry.
Ampleharvest.org enables people who grow food in home gardens to easily fin a local food pantry to donate their excess produce to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice big one.
We didn't know what doors to knock on. But now that Gary has got this wonderful program. Here is some rhubarb, taking it to one of the pantries really is a good way to share with Ample Harvest.
So much of this is boxed, canned, it's not fresh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perfect. Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're very welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We really do appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, we are getting the fresh items.
OPPENHEIMER: The country is loaded with gardeners who have more food than they can possibly use. Ampleharvest.org gives them the ability to easily get that food to somebody who genuinely really needs it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does it smell good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
OPPENHEIMER: You are not only doing good. You are feeling great about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: He has a drinking problem.
CHETRY: Yes. Did you see how much he spilled? I don't think he's a bartender for real? Poor Phil, the hands are shaking this hour of the morning.
Fifty-seven minutes past the hour. During hard economic times, farmers can get hit extra hard. But in New Mexico, there's some smart technology and a little bit of ingenuity that are making a big difference in Navajo country.
ROBERTS: Our Tom Foreman joins us live from Albuquerque, New Mexico this morning with our "Building up America" report.
Good morning, Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. I have to tell you, of all these stories we've covered out here, this is one that has impressed me just beyond belief. In part because I covered the Navajo nation 15, 16 years ago on various stories. What they are doing out there in a community that is traditionally very hard-hit by unemployment is just nothing short of astounding.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): The year's first harvest of alfalfa is being cut in the northwest corner of New Mexico. And Tsosie Lewis is pleased because for him each harvest brings what he believes his community needs most.
(on camera): You have just always believed that if you don't deliver quality, you don't have anything?
TSOSIE LEWIS, CEO, NAVAJO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRY: That is correct, quality, quality, quality.
FOREMAN: That's what you believe in?
LEWIS: That's what I believe in. Everything we do has to be quality.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Out in this arid and beautiful landscape, Lewis is CEO of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry or NAPI. He and his team have led a ten-year campaign to raise the quality and success of Navajo pride products, annually producing more than $30 million worth of potatoes, corn, wheat, beans and even cattle. LEWIS: You need to have diversity in your operation. You just can't raise crops and that's all you can do.
FOREMAN: The NAPI team is a model of efficiency. Rigorous on- site soil and water testing protect quality and productivity. A computerized command center handles irrigation needs around the clock.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just make sure the farmers are getting their water.
FOREMAN: Managers of each crop must turn at least 15 percent profits, the money going back into the farm or other tribal programs. And it all works.
NAPI employs 1,200 full and part-time workers each year and has not had a single layoff in this recession. They run an aggressive training program for young Navajos and they have earned the highest honor, the respect of their own community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm proud of being a Navajo, proud of who we are, proud of this farm, how far it came, you know.
FOREMAN (on camera): Do you like working here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. I plan on retiring here.
FOREMAN: Just how big is this operation? Well, look at it this way. All of the land that you can see, 30 miles east to west, 20 miles north to south is all part of this farm.
But, for Tsosie Lewis, it is even bigger. As a young man, outsiders told him his tribe could never succeed at a business like this.
LEWIS: Well, I stand here today with 99.9 percent Navajos operating their own farm. That is success to me. That's always been my dream and will be my dream for the rest of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: They are so respected, their products are being sold to big players like Walmart and Frito-Lay and Ralston Parina (ph). Even if you've never heard the name Navajo Pride, there's a good chance you've purchased a product that contains Navajo Pride ingredients sometime in the past year -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: That is amazing. Wow.
ROBERTS: Great uplifting story Tom. Thanks so much for bringing it to us.
FOREMAN: Good seeing you all.
CHETRY: Thanks Tom. You too.
Well continue the conversation on today's stories by going to our blog, CNN.com/amfix.
That's going to do it for us today. We'll see you back here next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
ROBERTS: Have a great one.
The news continues now with Fredricka Whitfield; she's in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
