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American Morning

Obama Talks Tough on Oil Spill; Van Der Sloot Confesses; End of the Road for Hummer; Doris Buffett Talks Philanthropy; Blanche Lincoln Faces Tough Primary Race; 'Energy Cocktail' Warning; Marvin Isley Dies

Aired June 08, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this Tuesday, the 8th of June. A lot to tell you about today.

I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we're telling you about in the next 15 minutes.

You want it tough and you may have gotten it. President Obama bluntly defending his response to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history as BP swallows up search terms and a massive web PR campaign.

We're live along the Florida Panhandle where they're praying that a pool of oil changes course.

ROBERTS: A confession in a high-profile killing. Authorities in Peru say Joran van der Sloot has admitted to killing a young woman. He could face decades in jail.

We're live in Lima this morning with new information about van der Sloot's confession.

CHETRY: Also, another round of Super Tuesday primaries with voters in 12 states going to the polls. One closely watched race is a rematch in Arkansas, and the White House certainly has a lot riding on the outcome.

ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFix blog is up and running, as it is everyday. Join the live conversation going right now. Just go to cnn.com/amfix.

CHETRY: Meantime, it is day 50 of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, and the White House is getting a little defensive. The situation is growing more desperate along the Florida Panhandle as well.

ROBERTS: And as frustration grows, MoveOn.org is organizing a nationwide day of vigils to call for stepped-up efforts to stop the spill. The president himself is reacting to critics who say he's not doing enough with some no-nonsense talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf. A month ago, I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain, talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially had the best answers so I know whose ass to kick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right. Let's bring in Rob Marciano. He is live in Pensacola Beach this morning.

And you have been talking to some of the locals. How are they reacting to the president's tough talk this morning?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, one person I talked to said, you know what, I like to hear that tough talk, because there's a lot of venom down here. There's a lot of frustration. There's a lot of anger.

And person I talked to, well, that's all well and good, Mr. President, that you're kicking ass. But be careful because your foot could end up in your mouth. And that certainly has happened before. Their words, again, not mine.

As far as what's going on down here and what else is going as far as that's newsworthy, the British environmental -- department of environmental -- British Department of Energy is now going to go and inspect their rigs in the North Sea twice as much because of what's going on down here.

The other thing that people are frustrated about in Florida is that they get very little economic benefit from what's going on offshore as far as offshore drilling is concerned. So, to have to pay for the environmental price here, that is frustrating them for sure.

Tar balls on the beach today, not a whole lot, a bit of a north wind. So, that is keeping the oil at least temporarily offshore -- John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: Hey, Rob, you went out with a marine biologist to take a look at wildlife that's now at risk. And we've seen these horrible scenes of these oiled birds coming in. We've seen dead sea turtles. What did you find when you went out?

MARCIANO: Well, we didn't see any of that. A couple of days ago, just down the beach, unfortunately, I found a dead oiled pelican.

But the marine biologist that we talked to here, you know, it's a totally different animal, so to speak, just a landscape of Florida versus Louisiana. You do have wetlands. You do have those estuaries in the marsh. But they're in the back base. And at least for now, they are fairly well protected. But you have these amazing, beautiful sand dune white beaches. And the wildlife is different as far as the birds are concerned. And the birds that nest here, well, similar to pelicans, they'll go out and they'll fish, go out for fish, and if those fish are tainted in any way with either toxic dispersants or oil, well, that all gets into the food chain. So, that certainly is a concern.

I also ran into some scientists that were taking water and soil samples here to try to figure out, you know, how much of the oil or dispersed oil, the oil we can't really see, has made it to the beaches here in Pensacola. They're saying, at least for now, even though we've seen some tar balls roll up -- for now, we haven't seen a significant amount of toxic oil get to the soil here on Pensacola Beach.

ROBERTS: Let's hope it stays that way.

Rob Marciano in Pensacola this morning -- Rob, thanks so much.

BP is also trying to put a cap on all of the awful press that it's getting. The company is actually buying up search terms on Google and Yahoo! to try to get out in front of the story on the web.

CHETRY: That's right. And if you search something, for example, oil spill, BP's link will be the first of millions. It leapfrogs over all the news stories, the tweets, the blogs, Google image of oiled pelicans.

And if you take a look, highlighted in yellow on the top of the screen, that's BP.com/oilspillnews. It's info about the Gulf of Mexico spill and learning more about how BP is helping.

ROBERTS: Well, coming up in less than 10 minutes time, we're going to be talking to the mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama. He publicly took one of BP's executive to task over this crisis. He'll tell us what the spill is doing to life in his hometown. That's ahead on the Most News in the Morning.

CHETRY: Meantime, to another story we've been following for you today. Joran van der Sloot could be charged with the murder of a 21- year-old woman in Peru as early as today, according to authorities. Van der Sloot, the long-time suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, confessed to killing the Peruvian woman in his hotel room last week.

Our Rafael Romo is in Lima with the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Joran van der Sloot broke down in tears when he made the confession in front of a prosecutor and a defense attorney. According to local media, his words were, "I did not want to do it, the girl intruded into my private life."

Apparently, what happened is in the morning of Sunday, May 30th, he went out to get some coffee while 21-year-old Stephanie Flores, his victim, stayed in the room. As he came back, he found her looking at his computer, his laptop computer. She was Googling and found his name and realized that he had been linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005 in Aruba. When he realized that she knew this, he became enraged, started hitting her, attacking her, ultimately, breaking her neck.

Now, today, he is still here at the criminal investigations building of the Peruvian national police.

Later in the day, they will go through what they call here a reconstruction of the crime. He's going to be taken back to the hotel where he's going to tell investigators exactly what happened.

Now, also today, a judge will hear the latest development and he is going to be formally charged. We also understand that his mother is on her way and she's going to be seeing him here in Lima, Peru. That's the latest.

We have reporting from Lima. I'm Rafael Romo. Now, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: All right. Rafael, thanks so much.

There has been a huge natural gas pipeline explosion in Texas. The blast killed one person and injured at least five others. The flames were so intense they were visible from eight miles away. Officials say crews were working on an underground pipeline when somehow it ruptured.

CHETRY: Well, meantime, Jacqui Jeras has been following all of the latest developments for us this morning, speaking of extreme weather. At six minutes past the hour, we check in with her right now.

So, another really hectic day weather-wise in the Midwest?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really is. You know, we keep getting these MCCs, as we call them. I'd throw another geeky weather term, a mesoscale convective complex. And it's basically a big clutter of thunderstorms and it's creating not so nice of a morning for a whole lot of folks.

Showers and thunderstorms heavy at times, producing torrential downpours. We did have some severe weather early this morning. That threat diminishing right now.

We're expecting to see -- oh, a good two to four inches of rain in some of these areas. That complex is continuing to move to the east. It's going to make its way into the Ohio River Valley later on this afternoon and into tonight. That's going to be the big focus in terms of the stormy weather for today.

Things look great up and down the eastern seaboard. A little bit breezy for you in the northeast. But you can't complain about low 70s. It will be hot and sticky across the Gulf Coast today. Temperatures are going to be well into the 90s.

But you add in all the humidity, the heat indices are going to be well over 100. It's going to be about 105 to 110 today in New Orleans and southern parts of Louisiana. And you can see those cooler temperatures across parts of the north.

Big change in our weather pattern, guys. So, get ready for that heat to move farther to east. We'll have more details on that when I see you again in the back half.

ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui, we'll see you then, always looking forward to it.

Coming up now, and eight minutes after the hour -- frustrations and tempers boiling over because of all of the oil out there in the Gulf. One mayor of a local town along the shores there took BP's senior vice president to task. We're going to be talking with Tony Kennon. He is the mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama -- coming up live.

CHETRY: Warren Buffet's older sister, she's a philanthropist, and she is giving away more than $100 million already and wants to give away even more. We are going to talk to her about why she thinks it's so important to give and how carefully she checks out the charities before she gives the money away.

Eight minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Live pictures from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico as the oil continues to bubble up from underneath that top cap that BP hopes to increase the amount of oil it's capturing from as they close down those vents. But it's a slow process because they want to make sure that they don't overload themselves. Right now, actually, they're bringing up as much oil as they can process, bringing in another ship, though, to help with some of the overflow.

Now, day 50 of the worst oil spill in this nation's history. And with every gallon that pours out of the broken well, anger and frustration grows along the Gulf Coast. At the start of the summer, hotel rooms now sit empty, fishermen stuck on dry land, a way of life for millions of people threaten.

Let's bring in Tony Kennon. He's the mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama. We got him this morning in Pensacola, though, because that's where we had the closest live location.

We should point out, Mr. Mayor, that that's not your typical beach attire. You thought you'd be in a studio. But we thought, hey, no better studio than the Gulf Coast there along the Florida/Alabama border. Let me ask you: what's the situation like just a little bit west of where you are in Orange Beach when it comes to the local economy, fishing, and tourism?

MAYOR TONY KENNON, ORANGE BEACH, ALABAMA: The beaches are beautiful. We had tar balls on Saturday. That's the only event we've had. Again, we know oil is out there. That could change next week.

ROBERTS: Yes.

KENNON: But, right now, it's perfect. Now, I can't say that for the economy, because the perception is our beaches look just like the beaches of Louisiana or the marshes of Louisiana, which has created an onslaught of cancellations and reduction of the number of folks coming to town.

ROBERTS: Mr. Mayor, one of the reasons why we're having you on is because on Saturday, a senior vice president from BP, Bob Fryar, was giving a press conference. And you happened to be there, and you took him to task over the fact that he hadn't been responsive to your request.

Let's play a little bit of that confrontation between you and Mr. Fryar and then I'll ask you about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNON: If you sensed our frustration, you would have been here a lot sooner. We've been asking for a senior BP official for 4 1/2 weeks to sit down and visit with us. You show up today. We don't even know you're coming. So, what you say and what you do, with all due respect, are two different things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Give us a little bit of the back story there, Mayor Kennon. What led to your frustrations boiling over?

KENNON: Well, like I said then, we've been trying to get some BP executives and decision-makers down here since the last week in April to get all these claim situations that we know are coming because of the economy crisis. We couldn't get anyone to show up. We couldn't get anyone to really respond to us.

And then, Mr. Fryar shows up for a press conference without telling us he's going to be there, not a courtesy of a call or an invite. So, it really frustrated me. And then to add to that was a fact that he was doing the P.R. spin that I continue to hear out of BP of how great a job they're doing.

ROBERTS: Right.

KENNON: And that's just not the case. We did have a little bit of movement yesterday. We saw from a few good things happen. So, I'm glad to see them paying attention.

But I am still disgusted with the lack of leadership and just no one stepping up to take charge and say, we're not going to let the oil hit the beaches. It disgusts me.

ROBERTS: Yes. One of your city councilmen, Ed Carroll, joins in there and said to him, quote, "I've got a solution, we could put you in our jail and you can sit there until you figure it out." There would appear to be very little trust of BP down in those parts.

KENNON: It's not. And, you know, I know Mr. Carol's comment just shows a sense of frustration we have. You know, no one attacked the problem. And I'm disappointed in our president. I mean, we should have had every vessel from four corners of the earth on that oil spill immediately, making sure it didn't move towards landfall. And that just didn't happen.

We don't know who's in charge. We're tired of hearing people talk. We're really tired of hearing the spin. We want to see someone attack the problem and take charge.

ROBERTS: Let me back you up there for a second, Mr. Mayor, because you mentioned the president. You may or you may not have heard the words that he said yesterday out in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in an interview with NBC News, where he said he's consulting with the experts on the subject so he knows whose ass to kick. Those are the president's words, not mine. You know, he's talking tough here.

Is he doing enough in your opinion?

KENNON: I know a lot of people that talk tough. I want to see some action. I'd love for him to come down here and have an iced tea summit. And I believe we can help him get something done if you listen to us, but somebody has to take charge. Somebody got to get more assets and more resources on site. I'm not happy with what we got here to protect our beaches.

The word overkill doesn't exist in my vocabulary right now. I think we should have every possible asset on the shelf for any possible problem and have a contingency plan for any issue. And I don't feel like that's the case.

ROBERTS: Have you had any situations there, Mr. Mayor? As you said, your beaches there are still in pretty good shape. Have you had any situations where you haven't had the assets you thought you needed to respond?

KENNON: Yes. Last week, we had a matt of oil, a small matt offshore about eight miles. We are paying for aerial reconnaissance. We spotted it. We got a boat out there. We got that matt boomed off, called for a skimmer to come take care of it. Couldn't get a skimmer there. And for that reason, the matt ended up making landfall. That was cleaned up in a matter of hours, but again, it was a perfect example of there was no resource there to make sure it never touched the beach.

There's no excuse in that. We continue to hear BP talk about how much money they're spending. Money means nothing to us. Spend three times that, if you need to. Get the assets on the ground in place to take care of business.

ROBERTS: You said a moment ago, Mr. Mayor, that BP had taken some positive steps. Can you tell us what they've done that has earned them a little bit of favor in your mind? KENNON: Yes, sir. One of the contractors that we were having problems with on beach cleanup has been fired. A lot more of our fishermen have been called up to participate in the vessel and opportunity program where essentially get them on the payroll. We got some equipment that we have requested that they have approved for our beach cleanup, and we're hoping they'll approve some other equipment that we've ordered and researched, some skimming equipment, that we're going to retrofit on some of our vessels that we want to place here. So, I'm hoping they'll approve that today.

ROBERTS: You know, they got that top cap in place, and they are siphoning off a sizeable amount of oil, not all of it though, but you know, Mr. Mayor that you're going to be dealing with this probably through the rest of the summer and maybe on into the fall as long as they can get that well killed with those two other relief wells that they're drilling. Can you remain vigilant, you know, that long? We're talking a matter of months here.

KENNON: We will do whatever it takes. We have no choice. I mean, this is our livelihood. You know, our entire economy is made up of mom and pop and generational businesses. We're not a huge national chain type of destination. We are very much a small town tourist destination. We're not going to let it die. We're not going to let this kill us. We are going to do whatever it takes to survive. And we will survive. The goal is, we're going to come out of this better for it.

ROBERTS: All right. We certainly wish you a lot of luck, and we hope to see you down there in the Gulf Coast in the coming days. Mayor Tony Kennon from Orange Beach, Alabama. Great to talk to you. Thanks so much.

KENNON: Thank you, John. I appreciate the opportunity.

ROBERTS: All right. You bet.

And tomorrow, beginning at 6:00 a.m. eastern, by the way, we will be reporting live from the Gulf Coast. That's AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow live from New Orleans and probably other places as well -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Still ahead, it is official. It's the end of the road for the once mighty hummer. Allan Chernoff takes a look at why some car owners are finding it so hard to say goodbye to the legend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: After a taxpayer bailout, things are starting to look out for General Motors. In fact, the "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the automaker will start airing Super Bowl ads next year after a two-year hiatus.

ROBERTS: But part of it's recovery means the end of the road for some memorable GM brands including the biggest one of them all. Allan Chernoff is here with the AM Original for us, big in terms of size, not necessarily sales, right?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. The biggest vehicle that GM has ever sold to the public, and this is indeed, the end of the road for the Hummer. The final Hummers are driving off dealer lots after GM's plan to sell the branch which Chinese company fell through. It's very well-confirmed environmentalist who absolutely hate those massive vehicles, but those who still drive and sell Hummers, they love them. Losing the Hummer for them is like losing a member of the family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Meet Kevin Dolloson baby, all 393 Hummer Horsepower.

KEVIN DOLLOSON, HUMMER OWNER: I can't stand to see my baby dirty.

CHERNOFF: Truth is, Kevin's Hummer H2 is more than his baby. It is his alter ego in steel and leather.

DOLLOSON: If I was going to be reincarnated and be a vehicle, this is the vehicle I would be.

CHERNOFF: Has man ever been more in love with machine especially now that General Motors is ending the Hummer brand. That's part of GM's strategy to revive the company after it received a taxpayer bailout.

DOLLOSON: I am so sad. It's going to be a sad day, you know, when these vehicles are completely gone.

CHERNOFF: The new ones, almost off. The larger H2 models like Kevin's went out of production last year, and last month, GM built the final hummer H3. Only about 1,000 of them remain on dealer lots. GM is offering incentives of as much as $5,700 to move out the vehicles that once sold for more than $35,000. Environmentalists are cheering as the gas guzzlers drive into the sunset, but dealer, David Ferraez says, he is losing the most athletic vehicle he's ever sold, and he sold frantic (ph). This H3 is his last one, and it's already been claimed.

DAVID FERRAEZ, PRESIDENT, GREEN BROOK HUMMER: I got a lot of broken hearted customers by us losing this franchise. I'm a broken hearted dealer, too.

CHERNOFF (on-camera): The Hummer is the ultimate macho vehicle, a man's man type of an SUV. But dealers say more women have bought Hummers than men.

For women, buying one of these is sort of like dating the captain of the football team? Is that an appropriate comparison?

FERRAEZ: I like that. Ladies love to drive them. They sit up high. They know they're sitting on a stud athlete here. So, they feel real comfortable and confident in this vehicle. CHERNOFF: Dealers could be confident of a hefty profit margin selling Hummers. The starting list price for an H2 last year was $63,000.

FERRAEZ: There is nothing like a Hummer, and I'm going to miss Hummer.

CHERNOFF: A dealer's sadness matched only by an owner's determination now to hold on to his Hummer.

DOLLOSON: I'll drive this big vehicle 'til the wheels fall off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (on-camera): Just in case the wheels do fall off, GM is saying, dealers will continue to service Hummers. That, by the way, remains a very profitable business.

CHETRY: I could imagine. So, what was it that ultimately killed the Hummer? I mean, was it the high gas prices?

CHERNOFF: I think you have to look back to the fact that gas prices did go over $4. Even though, the average price now is back to about $2.70 a gallon. The fact is, when gasoline went over four dollars, that did something to the public. They said, you know what, enough, and the environmental movement was in full swing at that point as well. I think that one-two punch.

ROBERTS: That sort of became the anti-Christ of the automotive industry, didn't it?

CHERNOFF: Yes, it did. Yes. A lot of patriot, a lot of people thinking, why is somebody driving that? We just saw why. Some people just love it.

CHETRY: It's not the end, end, end of the road, is it? It could come back.

CHERNOFF: GM is holding on to the brand name. They have the copy write, so it's theoretically possible. Those Hummer lovers have something to look forward to.

ROBERTS: Maybe in a decade, there will come with a lovely little electric motor in the future. That would be it.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Allan.

CHETRY: Thanks.

ROBERTS: Primary day today, and we got 11 primaries and another special election. What are the races to watch? Well, how about an election showdown in Arkansas. We'll have the skinny for you on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Coming up now in a half hour which means it's time for this morning's top stories, Joran Van Der Sloot could be charged today in the murder of a Peruvian woman. Authorities say Van Der Sloot confessed to killing the 21-year-old in his hotel room last week. He was arrested twice but never charged in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen, Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

CHETRY: Fifty days and the Gulf oil spill still gushing. President Obama using some of the strongest language of his presidency saying that he's had it with critics who say he is not doing enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The White House has also agreed to go along with a plan to make BP pay the entire tab for the mess. The administration lifting the cap on their liability which is now $75 million.

ROBERTS: White House press briefings just won't seem the same without Helen Thomas in the front row. The 89-year-old Thomas has retired. Her sudden departure coming on the heels of her controversial remarks about Israel that went viral on the internet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELEN THOMAS, COLUMNIST: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, where should they go and what should they do?

THOMAS: Go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is home?

THOMAS: Poland and Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, just go back to Poland and Germany.

THOMAS: And America and everywhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Thomas later said she regretted making those comments.

CHETRY: Well, it is primary day with voters going to the polls in a dozen states. One crucial contest is in Arkansas where incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln is considered an endangered Democrat.

ROBERTS: She is in a runoff with the state's lieutenant governor Bill Halter. Dana Bash, a member of the best political team on television is following that story. She is live in Little Rock this morning.

Dana Blanche Lincoln was forced into this runoff because she didn't reach 50 percent last month. Historically, runoffs are not great for incumbents. How is she tailors her message to avoid defeat?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She has been going around the state and saying, look, I get it, I hear you are angry at Washington. She insists that although she is a senator, she is still an agent of change in Washington.

She is also trying to address some specifics. There was one county here in Arkansas that is made up of conservative Democrats who her campaign said voted against her because she voted for the president's health care bill.

She has enlisted the biggest gun from her perspective, and that is the former governor of this state, former president Bill Clinton, who campaigned for her. Her campaign cut an ad using that stump speech.

What her campaign said is that they hope that event really shocked some of her supporters who may not be interested in going out and voting to actually get out, because they realize that she really could lose this Democratic primary. Turnout really is crucial in this runoff.

And particularly where I am in Polasky County, voters just started coming into the polls. They just opened moment ago. Campaign sources say they really need to boost voter turnout here because this is where Little Rock is. They hope it will be here for supporters.

CHETRY: That's just one hurdle as well. No matter who wins the Democratic primary, there has been an uphill battle to keep the seat away from the Republican challenger, right, John Bozeman?

BASH: A huge, huge challenge. This is a very conservative state and a tough year for Democrats. I was talking to one senior source in Washington that joked that the BP CEO was probably more popular in Arkansas than President Obama is.

Bob Halter, Blanche Lincoln's challenger says he is running an anti-Washington campaign. It would probably be best for him to be the one to run against Congressman Bozeman because he is a sitting Republican congressman. He can keep that anti-Washington campaign going. I talked to him about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. BILL HALTER, ARKANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: We are in this year. It is not counterintuitive this year. This year, very clearly, if you look at public opinion polls, it is the best way for Democrats to retain this seat.

BASH: Which is? HALTER: My candidacy.

BASH: Why is that?

HALTER: I am running 5 to 11 points better than Congressman Bozeman in the polls. The reasons are that I have been very independent here, willing to stand up to special interest groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, going into this day, there was no reliable polling. It is really hard to get a sense of where things stand. Both camps, both the halter camp and the Lincoln camp say that generally, it is too close to call.

The Halter camp insists that they have the momentum behind them. It is Blanche Lincoln's -- to try to get back into her court to try to avoid being the third sitting senator to be rejected by his or her own party this election year.

ROBERTS: It will be a great race to watch. Dana Bash for us this morning, thanks so much.

And stay with CNN and CNN.com. The best political team on television will be here all day to break down today's primaries and the results.

And tonight, Larry King will have live primary coverage beginning at 9:00 eastern. Then at midnight a special live hour of reaction and analysis of up-to-the-minute primary results. We're back to politics all day on CNN.

CHETRY: In the meantime, Warren Buffet's older sister pays it forward. A philanthropist, Doris Buffet, has given away close to $100 million already. She says her goal is to keep doing it until her last check bounces. She will be talking to us about why she believes it is so important to pay it forward. It's 35 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's 38 minutes after the hour. She is the sister of billionaire Warren Buffet, and like her brother who is giving way his fortune, Doris Buffet is a big philanthropist.

CHETRY: To date, she has given away $100 million and says she won't stop until the last check bounces. She joins us this morning to talk about the Sunshine Lady Foundation and the new book about her, "Giving it all way, the Doris Buffett Story." So glad to have you with us this morning.

BUFFETT, AUTHOR, "GIVING IT ALL AWAY": I'm very happy to be here, thank you.

CHETRY: You tell a story in your book how it all started when you were a newlywed and you had some help learning your way around the kitchen and you said to this woman, Josephine Travis, she said, can I do anything for you? And you said, "What you can do is help others." Is that where you got your start with paying it forward?

BUFFETT: Absolutely. I remember that. I took that as a directive and a pledge. She was a lovely person. I was so juvenile at the time. But it stuck with me.

Besides that, I think I've alls had a feeling for people who are having troubles. After all, I grew up in the Depression. Omaha was hard-hit. I know it lodged somewhere in my brain, because I once saw a man standing at Rock Park maybe ten years ago. He looked just like instantly. I started to cry instantly a matter of fact, because he had that gaunt, beaten look. I must have absorbed some of that.

ROBERTS: Your brother, Warren, said this about, "She has always had an enormous empathy for the person who has really gotten short straw in life. If people keep bringing trouble on themselves, she is not going to change that. When people have terrible experiences unrelated to their actions, it hits a cord with her immediately."

You grew up in the depression. You have also seen other tough times after the stock market crash in 1987.

BUFFETT: Of my own making, yes.

ROBERTS: You kind of know where these folks are coming from.

BUFFETT: I know that feeling of being helpless and hopeless. Fortunately, for me, it came to an end and I moved on.

For some people, they just have bad luck. That is all it is. I remember talking to a doctor at the Mayo Clinic. We have people there when I felt their diagnosis wasn't right. We were discussing a man's condition. After telling me how horrible it for some people, they just have bad luck. That is all it is.

One of the girls who works with me said one day, I think we know more about what's going on in this country than anybody else. In a way, we do, because we get letters from all over the country, not just one congressional district or one illness or whatever it may be. And it makes you value your own good luck a whole lot more.

CHETRY: Speaking of those letters, you talk about letters about people you help. Here is one of the responses.

"Every time I write to you, I cry out of happiness, because it is not every day that someone like me knows what it means to be loved. I try not to remember my past, because it hurts so much."

BUFFETT: It is overwhelming. It really is. I feel so grateful that I can and so happy for them, because it does change lives. I try not to get involved in anything that isn't a life-changing situation.

I've often said tediously that I don't give to SOBs, that's the symphony, opera, and ballet. They have a constituency of their own. Mine is people who have had a bad stroke of luck.

ROBERTS: Expanding on what we talked about, 1987, you were some $2 million in debt. You were sleeping on a cot. You thought you were about to become homeless. And to equate those two things, the name Buffett and homelessness, it is so --

BUFFETT: I think I wouldn't have ended up in the park but it was a bad time.

ROBERTS: But among these thousands of letters that you get seeking help, just a couple of examples of people you have helped -- a grandmother who wanted a gravestone for her three grandchildren who perished in a fire. You helped a mother pair off medical bills when her daughter got a rare fungal disease. You helped an elderly couple buy their first house.

How do you determine who is deserving, who gets a hand up or a handout?

BUFFETT: First, they write in and then we send them a questionnaire, things they have to provide, like their IRS statement or their Social Security or the doctor or something like that. Then, we go to -- we hit the phones. You get most of the picture when you talk to them on the telephone.

And it's just very easy to tell. I'm not claiming we have never been taken advantage of but I bet it is three people out of the more than 10,000 we have responded to.

CHETRY: One of the things you talked about also is that part of the reason you come from your perspective and you have the empathy you do is because you have seen hard times. You grew up around the Great Depression.

What about children now? Your grandchildren, your children and your brother's children and everybody who is going to grow up so wealthy they don't have to worry about money. How do you teach them what matters?

BUFFETT: All I can answer for is my own children or grandchildren. Well, I'll tell you, I have my oldest grandchild is a wonderful fell owe named Alexander. When he was about four, we sat down for a little talk.

I said, Alexander, it used to be that when children wanted something, they would go to their parents and the parents would say, no, no, no, and then they went to the grandparents and grandparents were only too eager.

I said, however, that has changed and now the parents say yes and the grandparents say no. He looked at me and couldn't understand what was going on. I said, we are going to have adventures. And we made a scrapbook. He handles it like it is the bible or something. It is was a wonderful experience, experiences of all kinds.

ROBERTS: It is great to give a child an experience.

BUFFETT: You grow very close to them too.

ROBERTS: Congratulations on the book. We look forward to following your philanthropy for many more years to come.

BUFFETT: Thank you. I appreciate that.

ROBERTS: Until that last check bounces.

BUFFETT: That's right. Thank you very much.

CHETRY: Well, we're going to be back in just a minute. It's 44 minutes past the hour. When we come back, we are checking in with the extreme weather department. There are some severe storms, torrential downpours in the Midwest. These storms are moving east. Meantime, there is intense heat in the south. Jacqui Jeras breaks it all down for us, still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, you've certainly heard that song. If you don't -- not intimately familiar with the man himself, Marvin Isley, the man that gave you the Isley brothers an extra kick of Motown Funk has passed away. And the bass player was just 56 years old.

CHETRY: No cause of death has been given. But he's been fighting some complications due to his diabetes. The Isley Brothers played together for decades and they were behind such hits as "Shout", "This Old Heart of Mine" and of course, the one you are listening to right now, "It's Your Thing".

ROBERTS: Well, it's 47 and a half minutes after the hour. Jacqui Jeras is minding the forecast desk this morning as she joins us. And we've got some extreme weather across the Midwest yet again.

JERAS: Yes, we do. I know, another morning in the Midwest and another day of thunderstorms, unfortunately that you're having to deal with again today. A strong cluster of thunderstorms making their way across Iowa and through northern Missouri right now, not a lot of severe weather associated with this. But wow, look at that light up with all of the lightning and heavy downpours.

So you do want to stay inside with these storms as you're heading out this morning. And maybe give yourself a few extra minutes because of it.

Kansas City, you're getting lucky by the way; the worst of this storm have just slipped kind of around you. You're still getting the rain but not the brunt of it. Flood watches in effect because the rain is very heavy and the ground already saturated.

If you're trying to travel lots of delays in the Midwest, a few in the Northeast for you guys because of those cross winds, but high pressure and control looking very good. Hot and sticky across parts of the south, we've got heat advisory for you. In New Orleans, it's going to feeling like 105 to 110 this afternoon -- John and Kiran.

CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras for us. Thanks so much.

Still ahead, you know dangerous cocktails -- I guess you could call them that. Energy drinks mixing in the alcohol turns into a combination that actually amplifies the effects of both. Why it's so dangerous, Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

Forty-nine minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, TV TALK SHOW HOST: It's pretty cool. Researchers in North Korea say they have developed a super drink that can multiply brain cells and stop skin from aging. Yes, and not to be outdone, researchers in the U.S. have developed a beer that kind of tastes like lime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Because it is so much easier than having to squeeze one into your bottle. There you go.

ROBERTS: There you are.

CHETRY: Which one do you like better?

Well, welcome back to The Most New in the Morning. Time for your AM House Call, stories about your health.

It's a boost along with the booze. Red Bull and vodka might be your drink of choice, quite popular at some of the bars.

ROBERTS: Yes but a new study says mixing alcohol with an energy drink may lead to risky and even dangerous behavior.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta for us this morning.

And Sanjay, what's the potential danger with these energy cocktails?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this was an interesting study. First of all, it I think, demonstrates what a lot of us have known for some time. That this idea of combining energy drinks and alcohol, that's grown in popularity for some time.

This study looked at college athletes specifically and what they found is that those who drank alcohol, about 92 percent of them admitted to drinking alcohol, about half of them combined with energy drinks on a regular basis. So it's become quite popular.

So the real concern really seems to be that people who are doing that are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Again, according to this study, things like getting behind the wheel of a car for example, or riding with someone who is drunk. And they are more likely to be injured as a result. So they seem to be trying to draw this line between this drinking these combination drinks and more likely to be injured as a result of risky behavior. What they really point to is this idea that you're combining an upper with a downer.

We've talked about this before but when you're drinking alcohol and then you're giving the energy drinks, which has lots of different substances in it, and people they get intoxicated more easily. And they don't -- they stay awake. And so that's why they can engage in this behavior.

So this is, again, something we've known and growing in terms of popularity, but starting to see some of the side effects of it.

CHETRY: Yes and you're right. People talk about it anecdotally this saying, oh you know, I wouldn't do that. That's kind of a bit much to mix the energy drinks and the alcohol.

GUPTA: Right.

CHETRY: But can you do it in moderation? Or is it just stay away from it?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, I think so. And when you look at things sort of models, for example, of high caffeine models, coffee people say, try not to drink more than four cups a day. Most of the side effects they talk about, to be fair, are short-term. You may have increased heart rate, you may feel a little jittery; but for the most part, those things go away.

With this, I think it is probably no more than a couple of these type of drinks at any given night. Part of the problem though and what most of researchers that I have spoken to about this say that there are ingredients in these energy drinks that we simply don't know much about. We don't know if they are dangerous but we are not sure if they are safe either.

Things like yohimbine, for example; evodamine; if you start taking those things in larger quantities, again mixing it with the caffeine, mixing it with the sugar, mixing with the alcohol, what are the potential problems? We're just not sure.

But two seems to be the number to answer your question, Kiran.

CHETRY: There you go. You don't recommend more than that, anyway. You're out, right? Just stick to two.

GUPTA: I never do. No. Not even that many.

CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Thanks, doc.

ROBERTS: Call IT; Apple CEO Steve Jobs has some technical issues live during the new iPhone unveiling. Can you say embarrassment?

55 and a half minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, the rumors are now fact. Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has unveiled the new iPhone 4 in San Francisco.

CHETRY: Yes, but while showing off a few of the features, he had to fight his own audience for some Wi-Fi access. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE JOBS, CEO, APPLE: I am going to go to some Web sites, I'm going to go to "The New York Times" today. Let's just compare these Web sites. Our networks in here are always unpredictable. We have no idea what we are going to find. They are slow today.

You know, you could help me out if you are on Wi-Fi if you could just get off. I appreciate. We're having a little problem. I don't know what's wrong with our networks.

We are going to switch over to some backups here. I have a feeling we might have the same problem. Well, geeze, I don't like this. Let's go back to the primaries.

I'm afraid I have a problem and I'm not going to be able to show you much here today. I can show you some pictures. Try one more time here. Boy, I'm sorry, guys. I don't know what's going on.

Scott, you got any suggestions?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Verizon.

JOBS: We're actually on Wi-Fi here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Oops. Well, there is a look anyway. If you could have seen it, it would have been super fast. The image would have been four times sharper than the one currently. There you see the big hit right there, the video conferencing, where you can do that now, especially if your buddy also has an iPhone 4 and you can both get service, Wi-Fi service and you can talk.

ROBERTS: If you can get Wi-Fi service. Why is it that every captain always reaches out to a guy named Scott to try to fix things.

The Dilithium crystals are not going to take it here with the iPhone. No.

CHETRY: There you go. Well --

ROBERTS: This reminder, tomorrow, beginning at 6:00 a.m., we're going to be reporting live from the Gulf Coast as waves of oil continue to wash ashore and frustrations in the region grow.

That's AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow live from New Orleans. CHETRY: Meanwhile, that's going to do it for us today. But continue the conversation on the stories that you've seen by heading to our blog, cnn.com/amFix.

ROBERTS: The news continues here on CNN with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM".