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American Morning
The 11th "Spy" Arrested; Businesses to BP: Pay Up; Oprah Tops Forbes 100 Celebrity List; Katrina Projects Strapped For Cash; Chicago School's Success Story; Extreme Swimmer
Aired June 29, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's Tuesday, June 29th. 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.
Lots to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it. Just in to CNN, an 11th alleged Russian spy has been arrested. Russia is firing back this morning accusing the United States of cold war tactics. So what happens to the reset in U.S./Russian relations now?
CHETRY: Southern Texas now under a hurricane warning. Tropical storm Alex gaining strength over the warm waters of the gulf and could become a category 2 hurricane. So where's it headed? What's it mean for the oil spill cleanup effort? Our latest from our hurricane headquarters coming up.
ROBERTS: With the focus on the gulf cleanup, this year's hurricane season, some people in New Orleans are still picking up the pieces after hurricane Katrina and that was five years ago. The money for those programs is running out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Summer volunteer season. June and July are always big months. And we don't have the ability to start new houses. You know, without the funding, we won't be able to continue to tap that energy, that labor and that goodwill. It will be such a loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And we're going to take to you New Orleans to take look at the work that still needs to be done -- coming up.
CHETRY: Of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation now. Go to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: Well, happening now: a deep cover operation by a group of accused Russian spies. Just in to CNN, word that an 11th suspect is now under arrest. Ten are already behind bars for allegedly trying to ferret out top secret U.S. intelligence. But the FBI says that more search warrants could go out across the country and that the case so far could just be the tip of the iceberg.
CHETRY: The plot reads like a spy novel, with secret money drops between agents and even documents covered in invisible ink. A former CIA officer tells us the U.S. has no reason to doubt that it's a target for spies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE SMITH, FORMER CIA OFFICER: You know, we can't ignore the fact that our country is a target for espionage no matter what the friendly relationships appear to be all over the world. It still takes place. Espionage happens 24/7.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Deb Feyerick has been working the story since it broke and she joins us. So, 11 now in custody. And this case could go far beyond that as well.
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it definitely could go far beyond this. And it seems that one of the spies may have realized that her cover had been compromised. Last week, an FBI agent posing as a Russian asked the alleged, Anna Chapman, to deliver a passport to another agent. Well, Chapman agreed, but soon after, was seen entering several stores. One of them a cell phone store where she -- where the FBI says she bought a cell phone and international calling card and then just tossed the charger in a nearby trash can. She never showed up to deliver that passport.
Now, that was not the case with a second accused spy in Washington, D.C. At a meeting also with an undercover FBI agent posing as a Russian last week, he allegedly agreed to deliver $5,000 to a drop point in Arlington, Virginia, which he did. Prosecutors say that they had extensive audio and video surveillance tapes.
Eleven people are accused. It does appear that the one that was not arrested now is in custody in Cypress. All are described as Russian intelligence operatives highly-trained. Their goal is not espionage but recruiting, specifically people in the U.S. government or people with access to policy-making, according to the criminal complaint.
An intercepted message quoted in papers shows that the men and women were given bank accounts and cars and houses to accomplish their mission and were expected to send back intelligence reports.
The spies in some cases are using the names of dead people, like Murphy, Foley, Heathfield --just some of the alleged aliases. And those were used to blend in with suburban neighbors. Many as you can imagine, many of the neighbors, stunned by these charges as homes from Boston to New Jersey to Virginia were searched yesterday. Some of the spy couples apparently had children in high school.
Now, in the complaint, data was apparently encrypted and transmitted via private wireless networks and one case every Wednesday, the alleged spy, Anna Chapman, worked from a coffee shop near Times Square, also from a bookstore near Greenwich Village. Each time, communications transmitted to someone with ties to the Russian mission in the United Nations. The area apparently where they me, passed one another, was basically transmitting computer information that the two computers talking to each other. Chapman was working out of her home on a work visa.
So, all of this right now are under investigation. And again, they've got to be happy that they caught the 11th person, but they do believe that there may be more out there.
CHETRY: How did -- how did they catch them?
FEYERICK: Well, Interpol put out sort of an APB on this guy. They knew that they were looking for this other person. And so, we're told also, search warrants may be executed across the country as well.
ROBERTS: One of the questions we hear this morning was -- they've been monitoring this ring for a long, long time. Why suddenly move in? Was it because they thought that maybe the FBI was on to them?
FEYERICK: Well, it's very interesting. It's not a coincidence that after this sort person-to-person contact with this female spy that apparently she went -- first, she went to a drugstore and then to the cell phone store, then to another drugstore, then to a cell phone store. So, whether she was trying to shake who may have been tailing her but her actions sort of just tossing this bag with the cell phone charger indicated that she was making a short-term calls, sort of one use kind of thing.
CHETRY: Very interesting. And we will find out more details. But certainly fascinating.
FEYERICK: Sure.
CHETRY: Of course, the developing news right during our show that they --
FEYERICK: Absolutely.
CHETRY: -- caught up with the 11th.
FEYERICK: Yes. They got to be happy about that.
CHETRY: All right. Deb Feyerick, thanks so much.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: Happening right now in Texas, the state's southern coast is under a hurricane warning. Tropical storm Alex is over the Gulf's warm waters and is building strength.
ROBERTS: It's expected to become a hurricane within hours, just under a hurricane status right now. It could become a category 2 by the time it makes landfall. So, where exactly is it headed and what could that mean for the oil spill cleanup off of the coast of Louisiana?
Jacqui Jeras is at the hurricane headquarters in Atlanta with the answers to those questions.
Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.
Well, the storm is heading west-northwesterly right now and will likely be coming in somewhere along the Mexican/Texas border sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, the storm is still about 450-plus miles away from Brownsville. So, it still has a long way to go and you're not going to be feeling those tropical storm forced winds or the heavier outer rain bands until sometime tomorrow.
Now, what kind of impact will that have on the oil slick? Take a look at the location of the storm compared to the oil. It's very far away from there. However, indirectly, we're still going to see the influence, a strong easterly winds push in over this area and push that oil spill potentially farther inland and potentially farther off to the west.
Now, we have coastal flood advisories in effect here along the Texas coast and Louisiana coast and even into Mississippi, where tides are expected to be between about one and four feet above average. The advisories are issued here and it's likely that that oil spill will move further inland as a result of that.
Now, let's take a look at that forecast and you can see the intensity more strengthening in that's going to be expected. Water temperatures appear a little warmer than they are over the current location here of Alex. So, we'll expect it to move up to hurricane strength, probably even just later on in the afternoon hours for today and potentially up to a category 2 before landfall.
We don't want you to focus on that skinny line. Take a look at that cone as that covers a lot of real estate yet. Back in bay on southward is where the hurricane warnings are in effect and that means hurricane conditions are expected in less than 36 hours. We won't start to really feel this until tomorrow afternoon. Those waves already though are beginning to churn up.
One good thing about this is that those waves will start to disperse a little bit some of that oil spill. So that's a little bit of good news out of all of this -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui Jeras for us -- thanks so much. We'll be following that throughout the day.
Meantime, two major Senate hearings get under way in the next hour on Capitol Hill. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will face questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in her second day of her confirmation hearings. The president's picks says she'll bring an open mind to the bench, but Republicans are skeptical. They're concerned about her, quote, "liberal politics and lack of judicial experience."
ROBERTS: Meantime, General David Petraeus will field questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing. General Petraeus is the president's pick to replace General Stanley McChrystal as the top commander in Afghanistan. The general enjoys popular support but he's going to face tough questions from both sides about the way forward in Afghanistan.
CHETRY: And speaking of General McChrystal, he is retiring from the U.S. military. The news comes a week after he resigned as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. McChrystal angered the White House by mocking the president and others in a "Rolling Stone" magazine interview.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning: Lance Armstrong has the world abuzz with his latest tweet. The seven-time champion says next month's Tour de France is going to be his last and that it's been a great ride. Armstrong finished third in the tour last year after a three-year retirement.
CHETRY: Another fierce competitor taking himself out of the July Fourth tradition. Takeru Kobayashi says that he will not be competing in Nathan's Famous Hotdog Eating Contest at Coney Island. So, why give up the shot at the coveted mustard belt? Well, the six- time winner is in a contract dispute with Major League Eating, which organizes the competition every year.
ROBERTS: Who knew you could have a dispute about food?
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: You see it and you eat it.
Navigating the BP claims process. It's a convoluted one. We track one fisherman's frustration with this confusing program after losing $100,000 in what BP offered him. He's back again trying to get more.
CHETRY: And there was a shake-up on the list of most powerful celebrities in the world. Christina Romans has more on that coming up.
It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News of the Morning. Twelve minutes past the hour right now.
President Bill Clinton is speaking out about the oil spill. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer in South Africa, the former president said that blowing up the leaking well may be the best solution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: One of the best things that they've done is to deploy massive naval and Coast Guard resources and finally start taking help from other countries. But unless we send the Navy down deep to blow up the well and cover the leak with piles and piles and piles of rock and debris, which may become necessary -- you don't have to use nuclear weapon, by the way. I've seen all that stuff. Just blow it up.
Unless, we're going to do that, we are dependent on the technical expertise of these people from BP. Let's just fix the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A lot of people have been asking that question. Why can't you just blow it up?
ROBERTS: Yes. I don't know if he quite has the method down because you got to go under.
CHETRY: You have to go -- you have to actually dig a relief well. It will be as deep as a relief well.
ROBERTS: You just can't cover it with rock because the oil would come up through the rock.
CHETRY: But there you go. But he's weighing in anyway and sort of showing, I think the collective frustration a lot of people feel why day 71 and we still can't seem to find a way to plug that leak. But, anyway, Wolf Blitzer did interview President Clinton in South Africa, at the Fortune/"Time"/CNN Global Forum which compensated the former president for his appearance.
ROBERTS: Well, even now -- even though we're 71 days into the oil disaster off of Louisiana, some families are still having trouble getting the cash they need from BP to stay afloat. We've been following the story of one charter boat captain and says he's already lost more than 100,000 in business.
CHETRY: And so, what does BP offered in return? He says, so far, just $33,000.
Our Chris Lawrence is in New Orleans tracking the story this morning for us.
Has he made any progress in trying to get that full amount?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran. We've been able to really track this story and follow it because those numbers you mentioned just jumped out at us. I mean, he was able to document to the dollar all of his canceled trips to the end of the year, and yet, was getting this amount that didn't even come close. We kept following up on it, not only to BP, but also with the man who's going to be running this claims process, Ken Feinberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): We first met Stu Scheer on one of his charter boats.
(on camera): Six boats, right? Give or take?
(voice-over): His customers scared off by the oil spill.
Stu filed a claim with BP for damage done to his fishing business.
STU SCHEER, CHARTER BOAT CAPTAIN: They wanted 2007 through 2009 returns. They wanted my log books. They wanted my bank statements. They wanted all my licenses, P&L statement.
LAWRENCE (on camera): So, you laid out all this paperwork.
SCHEER: Everything.
LAWRENCE: To the number.
SCHEER: To the penny virtually.
My bookings for this year amounted to a gross net of $107,000 and they basically offered me $33,000.
LAWRENCE: We've learned that BP is using a process called forensic accounting. Technically, it means the application of scientific knowledge to a legal problem and it's usable in a court of law. But to a lot of businesses down here, like Stu's, forensic? It just means death.
(voice-over): This investigative approach prevents fraud. But in Stu's case, only covers partial losses from months past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With that type of a formula, you know if they get the well capped, they may come back in two, or three months, and say, well, you can fish now. But it doesn't quite work that way.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Those people who have booked out-of-state trips -- they are just -- they have already canceled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. I mean, here I will give you an example of actual booking in October was $13,400 gross. You know, I cannot say well, let's look at it in October. They have to make their plans now. So we have lost that business.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): So we went back to BP where an official told us Stu's claim is now being recalculated. And what about having to come back to the adjustor every 30 days? We took that concern to the man about to take charge of the whole claims process.
LAWRENCE (on camera): Some of the folks have complained to us that they are being forced to file their claims every single month. They feel like they are being treated like children handed an allowance.
KEN FEINBERG, COMPENSATION ADMINISTRATOR: Well, I'm sympathetic to that complaint. Senator Landrieu suggested to me to consider the idea of an emergency lump sum payment maybe over three to six months rather than one month. And I think that I will give that serious consideration. I'm inclined to do it.
LAWRENCE: So, if Ken Feinberg keeps his word and follows through and you were to get a payment from July through December in addition to that $33,000 that they have already offered you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they would probably you know, be pretty good and hopeful that everything that he said, you know, has come about. I think that with him in charge, I'm a lot more optimistic.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LAWRENCE: And with everything that's happened up to this point, optimistic is actually pretty good. But this has the potential to impact a lot more people than just Stu. He's just one of 80,000 people with claims out there. And if they can now get a lump sum three to six month payment instead of having to come back every 30 days, that could be huge development. John. Kiran.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Chris Lawrence for us this morning. Thank you. Well, still ahead, we are going to get a visit from Christine Romans. She is going to tell us who made Forbes list of most powerful celebrities. It is not just about money. She will explain coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fourteen minutes after the hour. Our resident pop culture guru Christine Romans joins us now, "Minding Your Business". Telling us who the most popular people and most powerful people in the entertainment industry are.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You are joking because I'm not a pop culture guru.
CHETRY: But you have heard of Beyonce and Oprah?
ROMANS: I have heard of Beyonce and Oprah. And I have heard of the Forbes 100 celebrity list. And they are out with their new celebrity list. It is not just how much money you make to get on this list. It is a little bit more than (UNINTELLIGIBLE) celebrity. It is how much money you make but also how many different industries you are in and how you harnessed your celebrity to be an actual moneymaking machine. Topping the list, guess who.
CHETRY: Oprah Winfrey.
ROMANS: Oprah Winfrey is on the top of the list. She knocks off Angelina Jolie who got knocked off to number 18. Beyonce Knowles, is number two. You know, Beyonce made some $87 million last year. The reason why she's so high on the list, she has, you know, Nintendo, L'Oreal, to a huge, huge tour that netted a ton of money. So she has a very wide range, and fashion, too. A very wide range empire. James Cameron. That's right. James Cameron, $210 million, this is from "Avatar".
Lady Gaga debuts at number four. Unusual to come out of nowhere. And land up in the top five. But Lady Gaga lands at number four according to "Forbes." She made some $62 million last year and had a pretty successful concert tour. And Tiger stays number five, you guys. Tiger stays number five despite all of his problems. It looks as though that's because many of his contracts are structured so that he still made all of his money last year. He still technically had all his endorsements last year. Maybe this year will be the year he falls off.
ROBERTS: How much did Oprah make?
ROMANS: Oprah made $315 million. And you know, she is leaving her daily show but she is starting this new network. And she is not just her own self-made billionaire. She makes fortunes for other people. She discovered, you know, Dr. Oz, Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil, the list goes down the line. So, it's not just she is her own engine of economic -- she spins it out and passes it along. And that's what keeps her here at the top of the list. So Oprah is number one. One thing interesting about this, of the top ten six are women.
CHETRY: That's right. And top two African-American women. Top one and two. So, that is amazing. So how about your Romans numeral?
ROMANS: $863,000 every day.
CHETRY: This is how much combined the top five make?
ROMANS: Just Oprah.
ROBERTS: Just Oprah.
CHETRY: She makes $863,000 a day.
ROMANS: That is according to Forbes' estimate. $863,000 a day. You know, maybe Oprah makes actually more than that. Who knows. Because Forbes does make -- they do estimate this. $863,000. That's a lot of money.
CHETRY: All in a day's work.
ROMANS: Even on Saturdays.
ROBERTS: You have depressed us again for getting into the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) business. Thank you so much for that. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Well, as all eyes are on the Gulf. Tropical Storm Alex potentially forming into a hurricane. And as well the efforts from BP to try clean up that oil spill. Well, there is another group of folks down there on the gulf coast who are finding the time and money is running out. The effort to rebuild New Orleans five years after Hurricane Katrina still going on. We will check in on the progress.
CHETRY: And we are also going to be talking about a group of kids, the decks stacked against them, the odds that they would ever graduate high school. Very, very low. And now 100% of them college- bound. How did the school make this happen? And the students themselves. We are going to find out, coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Top stories five minutes away. But first an AM original, something you will see only on "American Morning." The focus along the Gulf Coast has of course lately been on the oil spill cleanup. And also, this hurricane season. Lot of people are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
ROBERTS: And neighborhoods across New Orleans volunteers are still down there in the sweltering heat helping people rebuild homes that were damaged five years ago. But the clock is ticking to get the work done before money from the government runs out.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARNET PERKINS, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT, HOME REBUILT BY VOLUNTEERS: You hear people say they are down, they are waiting on the count. I have been down and ready to throw the towel in. I mean I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stay above.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina, Barnet Perkins was unsure if he would ever be able to repair his home in New Orleans' seventh ward. But recently, volunteers arrived. Landscaping, painting and installing sheetrock.
PERKINS: I had to get a picture of them to remember.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
PERKINS: Because I had never had anyone to volunteer and do anything to me and I was so happy and so grateful.
ARTHUR JOHNSON, EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: This was the typical type of person, family that we are working with, to help make a difference. That we -- we have an obligation to do as much as we can for as long as we can.
ROBERTS: Perkins' home is one of eight the Episcopal Community Services of New Orleans is rushing to complete before its rebuild program runs out of funds at the end of June. Since Katrina, the program has rebuilt more than 60 homes with the help of 12,000 volunteers from around the country. But now a government grant they hope would fund rebuilding for the remainder of the year has been delayed indefinitely.
NELL BOLTON, EXEC. DIRECTOR, EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: We are coming in on the summer volunteer season. June and July are always big months. And we don't have the ability to start new houses. Without the funding, we won't be able to continue to tap that energy, that labor, and that goodwill. It will be such a loss.
ROBERTS: Even today more than 50,000 homes remain unoccupied in New Orleans. And while dozens of nonprofit groups have worked to get people back into their homes, funding for programs like these is hard to maintain when other disasters take over the spotlight. Most recently, earthquakes in Haiti. And Chile. And now the oil spill in New Orleans' own backyard.
MATTHEW SCHNEIDERMAN, VOLUNTEER: People are very interested in these sort of, you know, opportunities to be of service. Like immediately following a catastrophe. And I never really got that these sorts of events like how much longer lasting impacts on the people that it affects.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have had -- teammates and my job say everything is fine down there. We are going down for a vacation. No. We are coming down to help. Help is needed everywhere down here.
ROBERTS: For Barnet Perkins, that help has arrived just in time.
JOHNSON: We have an obligation to make sure that your house is complete. We are not just going to come here and do a little something and leave. And want to make sure you understand that and I know the expression on your face, you know.
PERKINS: I believe now. After what they did, I believe now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And soon after they finished the work that you just saw in that report, Episcopal Community Services rebuild program is going to shut down its warehouse, say goodbye to its crew and wait for word on its future. You know, Barnet Perkins' place is just about done. But there are so many other houses out there and so many other folks that are still waiting for help. It is getting money with the money drying up, help is getting, you know, fewer and further between for those folks.
CHETRY: And even more tragic is there's willing hands, there's volunteers that want to go there and do the work.
ROBERTS: It is amazing that for five years people have been doing that. Going down in the sweltering heat, taking vacation time to go do it, you know getting together with groups and going down individually. It is really just amazing.
CHETRY: It really is. Good luck to all of them. Meantime, it is half past the hour. Time for our top stories this morning. A 55- year old man arrested in Cyprus is the 11th suspect connected to a Russian spy plot to steal information in the U.S. Ten people were taken into custody in the East Coast yesterday. The Feds say that the case involves everything from secret hand-offs, documents covered in invisible ink, Russian leaders say that the allegations are baseless and unfounded.
ROBERTS: Two new studies bringing more bad news for the diabetes drug Avandia. Both link the pill to greater risk of heart attack and heart failure. The news comes just two weeks before a scheduled FDA meeting on the drug's safety. Avandia's manufacturer, Glaxo Smith Kline, issued a statement denying those findings.
CHETRY: Also an FDA report says many of the meals served to airline passengers are prepared in unsanitary conditions and could actually make you sick. The FDA cited numerous catering facilities that prepare airline food for suspected health and sanitation violations following inspections of their kitchens over the past two years.
ROBERTS: Now comes the tough part, a full day of questioning ahead for the president's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Day two of her confirmation hearings begins just about a half an hour from now.
CHETRY: CNN's Dana Bash is live on Capitol Hill. She is inside the hearing room. And she's going to be in the hot seat. Show us around. Who are the big players today?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is where Elena Kagan will come. She should be here really within a matter of minutes to sit down and begin what we expect to be a very long day of question and answers from this panel of senators.
She sat here pretty much all afternoon yesterday listening to scripted opening statements coming from this panel of senators, largely the Republican side. They hit her over and over for the fact that they don't understand and don't know anything about her judicial philosophy for the simple reason because she has never been a judge.
But on another note we expect the Republicans and in particular one Senator, Jeff Sessions, who is going to be sitting right here. He is the ranking Republican, I should say. He will get the first GOP crack at questioning Elena Kagan and he told me he really wants to focus first and foremost on politically incendiary issues, and that is when she was dean of Harvard law school she tried to block military recruiters coming on campus because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, (R) ALABAMA: During her time as Dean at Harvard, Ms. Kagan reversed Harvard's existing policy and kicked the military out of the recruiting office in violation of federal law. Her actions punished the military and demeaned our soldiers as they were courageously fighting for our country in two wars overseas.
As someone who feels the burden of sending such young men and women into harm's way and who spent much time drafting and redrafting legislation to ensure military recruiters were treated fairly on campus, I can't take this issue lightly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: I want to give you a scene setter here. Take a look at this. This is the group of cameras that the still photographers have set up here to get that money shot when Elena Kagan walks in. This is where she will be.
One of the questions that we have and the questions that the senators asked yesterday is whether or not she's going to live up to her own standard. That standard is back in the mid '90s she made clear that her experience working on this committee during Supreme Court confirmation really left a bad taste in her mouth because then the nominee didn't answer the questions.
So you heard senators yesterday say that they hope that she will live up to her own standard. It's a very interesting dynamic to see if she actually does.
ROBERTS: She said it was a "vapid and hollow process." We will see if she changes the dynamic. Dana Bash, thanks so much. CNN's live coverage of day two of the Kagan confirmation hearings begins in 27 minutes, 9:00 eastern on CNN.
CHETRY: And still ahead, you will want to stay to listen to this remarkable success story, a high school on Chicago's south side where usually only about two percent of young men go on to complete college, well, 100 percent of their first class is headed there. We will meet the CEO and creator of the school and talk to one of the students as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 36 minutes after the hour.
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: Coming up, we will show you a new school on Chicago's south side where 100 percent of the first class is college-bound. How did they do it against so many odds? We are going to talk to the creator of the school coming up. Stay with us.
ROBERTS: And can she swim 103 miles at the age of 60? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta's "Fit Nation" report on a woman that wants to go back in the water and try it all again, Florida to Cuba. It's 39 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 42 minutes past the hour.
Chicago's Urban Prep charter school launched with a mission to get more African-American teens back into school and allow them to graduate and actually go on to a four-year university.
The school's founder says more than half of the black males in the city's public schools dropout before even finishing high school and that only one in 40 will actually get a college degree. But now every single member of Urban Prep's first ever graduating class has been admitted to a four-year college or university.
And joining me to talk about how they did it the school's founder and CEO, Tim King, welcome, as well as one member of this year's graduating class, Cameron Barnes. And Cameron, you are headed off to the University of Illinois Champagne come August, so congratulations to you as well.
CAMERON BARNES, 2010 GRADUATE OF URBAN PREP: Thank you. CHETRY: Let me start with you, Tim. A lot of people want to know how the heck you did it. You took the school -- 100 percent graduation rate to be something to brag about no matter where you are. You are in a place usually you are talking about two percent. How were you able to turn around the odds?
TIM KING, FOUNDER AND CEO OF URBAN PREP: Right. We were excited about the fact we have been able to have this 100 percent college acceptance rate among our students. And really I think that what it boils down to is creating the right culture and climate in which students understand that their job is to prepare themselves to get ready to go to college, to gain admission to college, and to finish college, frankly. We have that culture at Urban Prep.
CHETRY: You say the first thing you do is the eighth graders coming in and you take them on a field trip to a university and say this is where you need to picture yourself four years down the road. How does that help them?
KING: That's right. Every student comes to urban prep and spend one month in the summer with us. During that summer program, one of the first things we do is take them on a field trip to Northwestern University. The students go to Northwestern University, hear from teachers and students, and they tour the campus.
And we explain to them, look, your job is to make sure that in four years you are on a college campus like this and you are ready to succeed once there. I think that really does play a big role in setting the tone and for what these students have to do even when they are just out of eighth grade and fire their freshman year of high school. They understand this something different. This is something new, and what I'm going to do is go to college.
CHETRY: And Cameron, what was it like? You talked about how you weren't even sure if this is what you wanted when you first were deciding whether or not go to the school. How did your learning develop and how did you get from that eighth grader visiting northwestern university to actually getting ready to go yourself four years later?
BARNES: At first I really wasn't sure if I wanted to go here, because, you know, the long school hours and all boy and, you know, the uniform. But you know it was just getting used to it. They prepared us for the future, wearing the uniform every day and learning how to tie a tie. Before I got here I didn't know how to tie a tie.
So, you know, learning those things and long school hours, it prepared me and prepared, you know, the rest of my fellow classmates for the real world.
CHETRY: This is interesting. You know, you talked about the uniform. And Tim, that's one thing that you made everybody do. They need to wear khakis, a blazer, a tie. They needed to recite actually a little saying, explain why you had some of these rituals and why you went through some of that foster this environment for the boys. KING: Sure. Again, it's all about creating this positive school culture and we think the uniform is an important part of that. And you've mentioned that the guys wear khaki pants, black blazer, with the Urban Prep crest on it. And you could see Mr. Barnes here. He also knows, we refer to all the students by their last names, so a bit of formality there and show a sign of respect.
So Mr. Barnes is here with a black blazer and the Urban Prep crest on it and he is wearing a red and gold tie. Most of our students wear a red tie. And then, once you're admitted to a four- year college or university you get to swap that red tie for a red and gold striped tie.
And again, it's all about creating this positive school culture, this college-going culture. A sense of seriousness and respect sets the tone within the school; the tone for success.
CHETRY: And how do you -- I mean in a lot of these cases, and you talked about it in your interview when we were talking last night about just the challenges that a lot of these young boys are facing at home, in the communities they live in.
One of them was actually -- he was shot in a drive-by shooting and caught in the cross fire two days before graduation. I mean, they were up against so many challenges. How did you get to 100 percent? I mean were there times that you thought that wouldn't happen?
KING: Well, you know, our motto at Urban Prep is we believe so there was never a time when I didn't believe that our students would manage to make it through high school and graduate and go on to college. These young men lead extraordinary lives. And they face incredible obstacles; obstacles that most of us can't even imagine.
You're absolutely right. We've had students who have been victims of violence and luckily they have all survived and have been ok. Mr. Barnes here, unfortunately, lost his mother during the time when he was a student at Urban Prep. I know that was really difficult for him.
But these guys are resilient. And really, I think, or at least I like to believe that part of their success in terms of their personal lives has been related to the family and environment and structure we've create at Urban Prep to really support and bolster them.
CHETRY: Cameron, does that make you nervous thinking about leaving that environment that has helped you grow so much heading off to college? I mean, I'm sure a lot of these people became your very close friends and that you relied on a lot of the teachers and instructors and counselors to get you through.
How are you going to do that alone or at least do it on your own a little bit more as you head into college?
CAMERON BARNES, 2010 GRADUATE OF URBAN PREP: I wouldn't say that I'm nervous about it. I am going to miss some of the people there. Like most of the teachers and my students, my classmates and -- administrators.
You know, they were there throughout the four years with me and especially the time when I lost my mother. You know, everyone was there for me. They welcomed me and asked if I need anything. And when the funeral came around everyone at Urban Prep was really there for me. And they were at the funeral.
So you know, I'm just going to miss, you know, all of the people there. And, you know, how we built the bond and things like that. That's what I'm going to miss. But you know, I know, you know doing what I have to do and -- you know, so see.
KING: And we're not going to be done with these guys just because they are finished at Urban Prep. We're going to actually work with them. They will have counselors at Urban Prep who will work with them while they are in fact, in college to help support them and guide them. So we expect these guys to remain really, really connected to Urban Prep and to Urban Prep family and we want to make sure that they succeed and make it through college.
CHETRY: Well, congratulations -- a wholehearted congratulations and you guys accomplished a lot. And as you know, Cameron, you're heading into your next challenge soon with college.
BARNES: Yes.
CHETRY: So great luck with that as well.
BARNES: Thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks so much for joining us, Tim, and Tim King and Cameron Barnes, I appreciate it.
KING: Thank you very much.
BARNES: Thank you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: What a terrific story. It would be great to see more of that across this country.
CHETRY: Why not, you know, he certainly gets a lot of questions -- how do we replicate this?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: It was charter school. I mean, you would think at random, it was a lottery system.
ROBERTS: Yes and how do you -- how do you replicate it and scale it as well?
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Because it's a fairly small class.
CHETRY: Yes. ROBERTS: But wow. Talk about a model for the future.
Here's a -- here's something for the future to contemplate. How would you like to swim 100 miles across the Florida Straits between Cuba and Key West? You think a young person might be able to do it. Well, I mean, it will be very difficult for that person.
But what about at the age of 60? This "Fit Nation Report". Wait until you see what Sanjay Gupta has got coming up for us.
Stay with us, 11 minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 52 minutes past the hour. Time for your "A.M. House Call": it's a sport that you can say is pretty extreme. If you're not attack by the jellyfish, you could be maybe put under by sheer exhaustion.
ROBERTS: Yes. You may suffer delirium something like that, hallucinate while you're doing it. That's what we hear about these people who go out there for extreme swimming. But one woman says it's worth the pain and the hours of training.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from Atlanta this morning for this exclusive look at an amazing athlete. Tell us about her Sanjay, this woman is just incredible.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She is magnificent. And I don't know if you guys have ever done open-water swims. I've done a few of them and they can certainly be challenging.
She takes it to a whole different level. This woman who swam around the island of Manhattan, she's got the world record in terms of open-water distance swimming.
She did that all more 30 years ago. And then, she hasn't really done any swimming since then. Well, that's about to change. And we're going to be there. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Diana Nyad starts her day with a swim. But it's no ordinary swim.
DIANA NYAD, PROFESSIONAL MARATHON SWIMMER: The longest pool swims I do about six hours.
GUPTA: Six hours. And that's an easy day.
NYAD: I started going down to Mexico, in the Caribbean, and every other week and doing a long eight, ten, 12, 15-hour swims.
GUPTA: You see Diana is preparing for the swim of a lifetime.
NYAD: About a year ago now, I'm turning 60. But I hadn't swum in 30 years nowhere at any time except in the ocean, paddling on a board. And I -- I was driving my car one day and I looked in the rear view mirror and just looking at the cars behind me and I caught my eyes and I thought wait a second. You know what? There's one thing you actually could go back for.
And that's the dream swim that I didn't accomplish back in the day which was Cuba to Florida. So I'm doing it this summer at 60.
GUPTA: 103 miles in the ocean, in the elements.
In 1978, the marathon swimmer's first attempt was plagued by rough seas. Painful jellyfish stings, delirium and bone-chilling cold.
But this time --
NYAD: I will admit to you I'm scared to death. And in other ways I'm very confident. I left no stone unturned in training. And I looked at the weather, and I looked at the team. And I looked at the shark devices and -- so I'm ready but will it all happen? It's -- it's a big unknown and it's kind of unnerving.
GUPTA: But is it physically possible for someone to swim the 103-mile distance? Consider this. The world record holder in long distance ocean swimming, Diana herself, successfully swam 102.5 miles from the Bahamas to Florida.
But after all, that was more than 30 years ago. Still Diana says her body is ready.
NYAD: I'm going to have in my spirit a -- a mantra that says no matter what happens, unless I'm truly taken down by a shark or a hurricane pops across Africa, I am going to stay in until I walk up on the -- crawl up on the Florida shores.
GUPTA: And the only thing that could stop the whole operation now is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
NYAD: So I follow that oil spill every single minute.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: So we did some calculations. You know, based on her speed of swimming. We think it's going to take anywhere between 40 and 60 hours to complete this swim that she was describing there. She's going to do a practice swim, a 24-hour swim. That will be on July 10th. We are going to follow her along on that. We're going to be on a boat alongside her and film her. And see what it is like firsthand.
ROBERTS: That will be incredible. All right. In the water for somewhere up to 60 hours, obviously there are some things that you have to consider when you are doing that like eating. She's going to have to eat to keep up her energy. Does she ever get a chance to sleep? GUPTA: She doesn't get a chance to sleep. She doesn't get a chance to stop. She cannot -- she can't get in the boat. She can't get on a flotation device. Even as far as eating goes they hand her food over the side of the boat. But the last time she tried this she lost 29 pounds during that time period. She's burning so many calories, it's impossible to keep up with the consumption.
CHETRY: That's amazing. When she was talking about the shark devices as well, obviously that's a consideration especially where she's going to be swimming. How's that technology advanced since she tried this before?
GUPTA: Well, there will be shark divers traveling along with her as well. They have certain devices to try and either look for sharks or try to prevent them from coming to a particular area. But it is still a concern. They are unpredictable which is -- she sort of alluded to that.
That's one of the biggest concerns. The shark, if it comes out of nowhere, that can derail the whole mission. Even if she gets out of the water and just stops the swim.
ROBERTS: Losing that much weight that quickly, that's -- got to have a profound effect on your body.
GUPTA: Yes. She's someone who's has done this. Swimming around, trying to swim in the past, 102.5 miles before. But it was 30 years ago. She didn't swim, you know, since then essentially. Maybe she -- it was just so hard on her body at that point. But she is going to try it again now.
CHERY: Wow. It will be interesting to track her 24-hour practice trial. That's in of itself an amazing feat. We wish her the best.
GUPTA: We will be there. We'll certainly bring it to you. And this should be some amazing footage, I think.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Thanks doc.
GUPTA: All right guys.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Three minutes to the top of the hour. We will be right back.
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ROBERTS: Continue the conversation on today's stories; go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you again tomorrow.
CHETRY: Meantime the U.S. Capitol is a very busy place today: Senate confirmation hearing for major presidential appointments including General David Petraeus as well as Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
So CNN's special coverage of the Senate hearings starts now. Here is John King and Candy Crowley, live in Washington.
