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American Morning

Alex Now a Hurricane; Republicans Grill Kagan; Larry King Announces Retirement This Fall; Russian Spy Ring Unveiled; Biden: Seafood Will be Safe; Elena Kagan Unplugged; Larry King to Hang Up Suspenders; For Real This Time?

Aired June 30, 2010 - 06:00   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. Thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. That's what we like to call around here hump day. It's Wednesday, getting over the top there and the (INAUDIBLE) of the July 4th weekend. I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning, including a developing hurricane. So let's get right to it.

Thousands along the Gulf this morning are bracing for Alex and taking cover. Alex is now a Category 1 storm. Winds hitting 80 miles per hour and landfall is expected within hours. We're live from our hurricane headquarters and from the path of the storm.

ROBERTS: Eleven accused Russian spies are now behind bars and although many of them lived seemingly all-American lives, the FBI is revealing details of their so-called deep cover operation. We're taking a closer look at their secret lives this morning.

CHETRY: And Larry King, the face of CNN at 9:00 p.m. for 25 years, says it's time to hang up his nightly suspenders. This morning, we're going to get a look at the iconic TV host who's interviewed everyone from presidents to Hollywood royalty.

ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning as it is every day. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.

CHETRY: A first this morning. Alex is now a hurricane roaring across the Gulf and expected to slam into the coast today. The Category 1 storm is packing winds at about 80 miles per hour right now. Let's take a look at the radar.

You can see it's a huge hurricane. It covers the entire gulf. It's already churning up 12-foot-high waves, sending oil skimming boats from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle back to shore.

ROBERTS: Alex is expected to hit near the Texas-Mexico border and people across the region are already feeling the effects this morning. It's the earliest Atlantic hurricane in 15 years signaling the start of what's likely to be a very busy hurricane season. CHETRY: The CNN weather team is tracking Alex from all angles for you this morning. Jacqui Jeras in our hurricane headquarters. First though, we head to Reynolds Wolf. He is directly in the path of the storm. He's on South Padre Island in Texas. And of course, because of those whipping winds, we actually lost our live shot but we have you on the phone.

Reynolds, what's it like?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST (via telephone): What we have right now, Kiran, is we've seen the winds really pick up dramatically just over the last hour or so. Rain has been intermittent at best, but we'll have an occasional squall line that will come through. I can tell you the ground we're standing is saturated.

This is a pretty interesting storm. In fact, it's already written itself in history books being the first Atlantic hurricane to form in the -- actually in the month -- in the United States since the month of June 1995. Already I can tell you there's been a lot of action here on South Padre Island. A lot of the businesses have been boarded up, a lot of private homes also. Sandbags have been deployed around the area.

Now gulf state and statewide, Texas Governor Rick Perry has declared 19 counties disaster areas. It's already activated 2,500 National Guard troops. In fact, we saw some yesterday on their way into South Texas. In Brownsville, just a short drive from here, about 60,000 sandbags have already been distributed. They're providing shelter for 2,000 families. Also, utility crews understandably are on stand-by for the inevitable outages that often come with these storms.

Now, what we have, interestingly enough with strong winds. We're waiting for about 39-mile-per-hour winds. When that happens, Kiran, when the winds reach that threshold point, all bridges leading to and away from this island seal off. So when that what happens, no one's getting on or off the island. We simply just sit and wait and watch and hope for the best as Alex is getting closer. Back to you.

CHETRY: All right. Reynolds, we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as we see those winds gather strength and the rains come down and just to check and see the progress of how it's going out there. Thanks so much.

ROBERTS: We're tracking the latest forecast and warnings. Our Jacqui Jeras is in our hurricane headquarters in Atlanta this morning. And how's it looking from where you stand, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the storm hasn't really intensified since it became a hurricane. It's been kind of status quo with winds of 80 miles per hour. But what it has been doing, John, it's been getting bigger so the wind field is much broader and those tropical storm-force winds go out 200 miles from the center of this storm.

Now that center of the storm is about 230 miles away from Brownsville so that tells me we could start to see those tropical storm-force wind gusts, at least, really at any time especially with those squall lines that are going to start moving through that Reynolds talked about.

It's kind of a slow-moving storm, only moving about 7 miles per hour. So landfall probably isn't going to be happening until late tonight, possibly even early tomorrow morning before you wake up. However, those impacted will be felt throughout most of the day today and it's just going to continue to go downhill from there.

We think sustained tropical storm-force winds will likely occur by this afternoon. That's 39 miles per hour or greater. And we do expect some gradual intensification with this storm before it reaches the coast so this could potentially become a Category 2 storm before all is said and done.

Look at how much of the Gulf this encompasses. This brings showers and thunderstorms from Florida all the way over towards the Texas coast. And there you can see those rain bands moving in. Wind gusts have been about 25 to 35 miles per hour with this. The waves will be high and you talked about those skimmers having to go in. One to four-foot waves can be expected through today and into tomorrow. But far enough from that oil spill we won't have that direct impact. All the other boats that are hooked up to that top hat and collecting some of that oil, those can sustain 12-foot waves so we don't expect that to be a problem -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui Jeras checking in with us this morning. Thanks, Jacqui. We'll get back to you.

This just in to CNN. A strong earthquake rattling southern Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey saying it was a 6.5 magnitude quake, about 225 south-southeast of Mexico City. People did feel it in Mexico City. A witness also says long, slow tremors woke up some people in Acapulco but there were no reports of any damaged buildings or people hurt so far.

CHETRY: Well, another Capitol Hill grilling in store for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. This is day three of her confirmation hearings. She faced some tough questions yesterday from Republican senators who suggest that her legal analysis will take a back seat to her politics.

ROBERTS: But Kagan did manage to hold her own, even mixing in some humor.

Dana Bash is following the Kagan hearings. She's live in our Washington bureau this morning. And she proved, Dana, yesterday that she does have quite a sense of humor.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she does and she used it to her advantage in a big way. And she had a very long day yesterday. She's in for another long day today. Yesterday, by the way, lasted from 9:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night.

It ended, well, some light-hearted sparring, as you mentioned, with one big GOP detractor. Another Republican even complimented Kagan who's never been a judge on explaining how she would approach cases as a Supreme Court justice. But that's not how the day started.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): Republicans launched their first missile at what they call Elena Kagan's most vulnerable target.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: You are punishing the military.

BASH: Trying to block military recruiters while dean of Harvard Law School, in part because of the Pentagon's ban on gays serving openly.

ELENA KAGAN, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I do oppose the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law.

SESSIONS: And you did then.

KAGAN: And I did then.

BASH: With a sharp barrage of questions, GOP Senator Jeff Sessions accused Kagan of violating the law and denigrating the military.

SESSIONS: And you were taking steps to treat them in a second- class way, not give them the same equal access because you deeply opposed that policy.

BASH: Kagan defended what she called a difficult balance.

KAGAN: And we were trying to do two things. We were trying to make sure that military recruiters had full and complete access to our students, but we were also trying to protect our own anti- discrimination policy.

SESSIONS: I'm just a little taken aback by the tone of your remarks because it's unconnected to reality.

BASH: Kagan once derided Supreme Court nomination hearings as a vapid and hollow charade because nominees deflected substantive questions.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE: Now you set the standard. You probably reread those words.

KAGAN: Many times.

BASH: But now that she's the nominee, a different standard.

KAGAN: That I did have the balance a little bit off and that I skewed it too much towards saying that answering is appropriate even when it would, you know, provide some kind of hints. And I think that that was wrong.

BASH: So, like past nomination hearings, questions and some non- answers. SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Does the president, in your view, have the authority to detain American citizens without criminal trial if they are suspected of conspiring to aid terrorists?

KAGAN: Senator Feinstein, this will I think very much be a case that may come before the Court. Senator Kyl, I would not want to characterize the current court in any way. I hope one day to join it.

SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: And they said you're not political. Right?

BASH: On that point, Kagan admitted --

KAGAN: My political views are generally progressive.

BASH: But also promised --

KAGAN: That my politics would be, must be, have to be completely separate from my judgment.

BASH: Throughout the day, Kagan tried to disarm senators by interjecting with humor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is softball. Wouldn't you say --

KAGAN: The promise?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I promise. I just ask you where you're at on Christmas.

KAGAN: You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now Kagan did answer some questions on hot-button issues before the court and some answers may not please all fellow Democrats like on gun rights. She said she considers recent cases upholding the Second Amendment, quote, "good precedent going forward," but John and Kiran, so far, Kagan appears unscathed in her path to confirmation.

ROBERTS: Doing her best to hold up the grand tradition of confirmation hearings being vapid and hollow, too, right?

Dana, thanks so much.

CHETRY: Well, the Kagan confirmation hearings resume this morning at 9:00 Eastern. You can watch it here on CNN, online at CNN.com/live and also on your CNN app for your iPhone.

ROBERTS: Well, this next story is one that's very important for us here at CNN. The legendary Larry King has announced that he is going to be retiring, in a way, this fall. CHETRY: For 25 years, "LARRY KING LIVE" has been a required stopping ground for politicians, celebrities, newsmakers. King who is 76 years old says he wants to spend more time with his wife and his young children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast ever of "LARRY KING LIVE." And now decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I'd like to end "LARRY KING LIVE," the nightly show this fall, and CNN has graciously accepted to agree to, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' Little League games.

I'll still be a part of the CNN family, hosting several Larry King specials on major national and international subjects. And we'll be here for a lot of time until a replacement is found. We'll be here into the fall. Tomorrow night, in fact, Elizabeth Edwards will be our special guest.

I'm incredibly proud that we recently made the "Guinness Book of World Records" for having the longest running show, the same host in the same time slot on the same network. With that chapter closing, I'm looking forward to the future. What my next chapter will bring. But for now, for here, it's time to hang up the nightly suspenders. Until then, we got more shows to do, and who knows what the future is going to bring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, CNN also released a statement saying, quote, "Having conducted nearly 50,000 interviews over 50-plus years in broadcasting, Larry deserves to take some time for his family and for himself."

ROBERTS: I can't believe that Larry will actually permanently hang up those suspenders. He's a guy who always wants to -- he comes in here on the weekends and on holidays.

CHETRY: He loves being in the mix.

ROBERTS: Anytime there's news, so I would suspect that you're going to see a lot of Larry in the future.

Tonight, don't miss a "LARRY KING LIVE" prime time exclusive with Elizabeth Edwards. Hear about her split from John Edwards, her battle with cancer and how she has dealt with the heartache head-on. That's tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Well, this is a story that keeps getting more interesting. In the past two days, 11 people have been arrested, all accused of being undercover agents for Russia, stationed and blending in right here in the United States. Well, just ahead, unraveling the secrets of the glamorous, young entrepreneur who's at the center of this case. It's 12 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Fifteen minutes past the hour. New this morning, Attorney General Eric Holder is on the ground in Afghanistan, meeting with U.S. and Afghan officials and talking about improving the nation's justice system and battling corruption. Holder says that supporting the rule of law is one of the president's top priorities. The trip is the first for an attorney general who oversees FBI and DEA agents stationed in Afghanistan.

ROBERTS: Now to new developments with the 11 people suspected of being secret agents for Russia. The FBI says they have been operating in deep cover for more than a decade, living seemingly normal leaves.

Our Deb Feyerick continues to follow this story. She's here now with a closer look at some of the accused, and certainly a lot of people are focusing on the -- the "Red Head."

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's giving it legs, definitely. Definitely. A little bit.

But, you know, one of the reasons that the Justice Department stepped in when they did is because one of the people, and they wouldn't tell us which one, was getting ready to leave the United States. And so they really felt that now is the time to step in, arrest everybody. They couldn't go after one without sweeping everyone up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): Talking on YouTube, accused spy Anna Chapman says she's inspired by the quantity and quality of people she's met in New York, many of them successful in business.

ANNA CHAPMAN, SUSPECTED RUSSIAN SPY (through translator): I'm working on a project that will connect two capitals, New York and Moscow, from my point of view, the two major cities for me to look for most talented people.

FEYERICK: The striking 28-year-old entrepreneur, seen here on her Facebook page, appears to have started domdot.ru, a search engine for Russian real estate. But Chapman says an acquaintance is not so much James Bond as she is James Bond's girlfriend, many of her Facebook friends seemingly of Russian origin.

The FBI says she's a highly trained intelligence operative, a spy, the headlines read, sophisticated enough to elude detection until now.

FEYERICK (on camera): An FBI agent says Anna Chapman was inside this coffee shop on her computer when a van known to be driven by a Russian government official passed by. It's at that point that FBI agents detected a wireless network signal. They say Anna Chapman was passing encrypted data from her computer to a computer inside that vehicle.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Whether real estate was Chapman's real career, another woman in Boston accused of being a spy is also in real estate.

On her Web site, Ann Foley is described as a native of Montreal who, quote, "lived and was educated in Switzerland, Canada and France." According to court papers, her alibi on a trip to Russia was she was working as an international business consultant.

Her husband, Donald Howard Heathfield, an international sales consultant for an energy company, is also under arrest. Prosecutors say a birth certificate with his name was found in a safety deposit box, and though it appears genuine, prosecutors say the real Donald Heathfield passed away five years ago.

Of the 11 alleged spies, one worked as a journalist for the New York-based Spanish language newspaper, "El Diario." Vicky Pelaez is accused of traveling to South America where she received $76,000, allegedly for recruiting sources. On a wiretap, her husband, Juan Lazaro, who claimed to be born in Uruguay, is allegedly heard telling his wife he and his parents moved to Siberia when the war started.

Pelaez's son spoke about the charges.

WALDOMAR MARISCAL, SON OF VICKY PELAEZ: They were like most reporters are, like you guys -- innocent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: En espanol?

MARISCAL: Innocent. It's very scary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

MARISCAL: It's terrible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, 10 of the 11 suspects are in custody here in the United States. The 11th was picked up in Cyprus. He was detained on an Interpol warrant. We are told that he was released on $24,000 bond. He did have to surrender his passport and he's got to show up at the police precinct in the state where he is every day.

ROBERTS: I'm amazed at the fascination with this young woman, Chapman was her name?

FEYERICK: Chapman's her name.

But, you know, it's interesting. We spoke to somebody online, a Facebook friend, who told us that she was a very hard worker, really was interested in venture capital, kind of developing her own business. So she may have just been leading a double life, basically.

ROBERTS: Yes. Well, that's the key, right? When you're a spy?

FEYERICK: Right. Exactly. A good one and the not so good one.

ROBERTS: Just like something out of a James Bond movie.

CHETRY: Absolutely.

ROBERTS: Deb Feyerick this morning. Thanks.

CHETRY: Well, a promise from the White House that your seafood will be safe. The vice president announcing a plan to monitor what we eat once fishermen are allowed to go back in the Gulf.

Our Allan Chernoff is "Minding Your Business." He's live from New Orleans this morning. He's going to join us in just a moment.

It's 19 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Bill Prinings (ph).

CHETRY: They're quite busy in there, though.

ROBERTS: Aren't they? Yes.

CHETRY: Despite Bill (ph). Just kidding.

ROBERTS: When trading starts in a few hours' time, Wall Street is going to try to make up some of the huge losses from yesterday reacting to a drop in consumer confidence and fears of a bigger global slowdown, the Dow was down 268 points, losing more than 2.6 percent of its worth. The NASDAQ down almost 4 percent.

Shockwaves are hitting Asian markets as well today. The trading day finished with some big red arrows. Japan the day's biggest loser. Things are better in Europe. Right now, London's FTSE is up less than 1 percent.

CHETRY: Well, the big message from Vice President Joe Biden yesterday during his trip to the Gulf is that your seafood will be safe to eat. He unveiled a gulf food safety plan announcing that officials on both the state and federal levels will come up with one standard. And the VP added we want to get fishermen back out on the water as soon as possible.

Senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is "Minding Your Business" live from New Orleans. And obviously the fishermen feel the same way, but with the oil still gushing, day 72, how likely of a scenario is that, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, actually some good news that the vice president brought yesterday. Federal and state officials have been coordinating to create one standard for reopening portions of the Gulf to fish. And that's right, I said re- opening. They're now considering re-opening two portions of the federal waters and also two portions of Louisiana State waters. That's within three miles of -- of land. So this is actually very encouraging news for the fishermen and the vice president said he wants them to get back to business quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we want one single standard so you all don't have to worry about where you fish, if you can fish and when the waters are open, whether they're federal waters or state-owned waters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Still after listening to the Vice President Joe Biden, how did the fishermen respond? Are they hopeful?

CHERNOFF: Yes. You know, they really appreciated him coming out. To put this all in perspective, a third of the Gulf of Mexico is now closed off to fishing. Add to that the fact that the fishermen were saying, look, people are concerned about eating seafood. They feel it is all contaminated. And if the federal and state authorities are getting together, setting the standard, saying, OK, fishing over here is safe and of course they are continuing to check at the wholesalers, sampling everything that's coming out. So they're saying, look, this is -- this is definitely a positive.

And also the vice president was extremely empathetic. He said he wants to make sure that the lifestyle people enjoy here continues and he also told the fishermen, hey, watch out for each other, because obviously we had just the other week that apparent suicide by one fishermen. And he said, look, I know you guys are tough, you women are very tough, it's a tough life you live here, but even tough people need help sometimes -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes. And Allan, back to your point about a third of the Gulf being closed to fishing, a lot of fishermen we talk to when we were down there said, you know, those numbers are a little bit arbitrary because the part that where the richest areas to fish they've been closed, you know, since a couple of weeks after the oil spill and that's what's really hitting their livelihood.

CHERNOFF: And the -- the issue now of course is, well, is any area really rich. I spoke with a number of crabbers yesterday and they're particularly concerned about what they call their second season. The early spring's the first season. The second season is around August or so and they're saying, hey, you know, there may not be much of anything for them if the oil actually gets in to the marshland where there are so many crabs.

CHETRY: A tough situation still, but as you said, they were heartened by the vice president's visit.

Allan Chernoff for us this morning in New Orleans. Thank you.

ROBERTS: It's 26 minutes after the hour.

And coming up on the Most News in the Morning, Elena Kagan, she flashed her sense of humor at her confirmation hearing. Now, new video show Kagan's feisty side during her days as the dean of Harvard Law School. We'll have that for you coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the AMERICAN MORNING. It's half past the hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories this morning.

They're stacking sandbags and taking cover. Thousands along the Gulf Coast bracing themselves for hurricane Alex. Right now, the storm's category one, it could make landfall near the Texas and Mexico border and gain strength within hours. It is the earliest Atlantic hurricane in 15 years.

ROBERTS: A deadly battle said to be ongoing right now in Afghanistan. The Taliban striking an airport in Jalalabad. The group claiming that insurgents wearing suicide vest set up a car bomb as they drove into the entrance. NATO says it killed eight of the attackers and that two NATO troops were wounded.

CHETRY: Sixteen thousand protesters took on Greek police throwing bottles and stones as riots continued over government-ordered pay and pension cuts. The country's trying to dig itself out of the deep economic hole.

The fifth general strike shutdown public services, brought transportation to a halt and left hospitals without even enough staff to treat patients.

ROBERTS: Well, to politics now. Elena Kagan's game face has often been a smiley one during her Senate confirmation hearings. She has been cool, calm, collected, not to been downright funny, in the face of some Republican attacks.

But this morning, we're also seeing a feisty side of the Supreme Court nominee from her days at Harvard Law School.

Jim Acosta is following that and he joins us live from Washington.

What are we finding out, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sort of Elena Kagan unplugged, John. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has gone out of her way to avoid controversy during her career and during her confirmation hearings. But there about have been a few moments when she has let down her guard with cameras rolling during her days as dean of the Harvard Law School.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENA KAGAN, THEN-DEAN, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: What do we know about her? What do we think of her?

ACOSTA (voice-over): It was 2005, the then-dean of the Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, was leading a panel discussion.

KAGAN: Does anybody know anything about her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not much.

ACOSTA: The subject: Harriet Miers, President George W. Bush's pick for the Supreme Court. In this exchange, Kagan is off-camera, but she and the panel appear to have some fun with Miers' lack of name recognition.

KAGAN: How do you pronounce her name? Is this Meres (ph) or Meyers (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meyers.

KAGAN: Meyers? OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least that's how the media has been producing it.

KAGAN: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they don't know anything either or something.

ACOSTA: The panel questions Miers' legal hat, a criticism that helped doomed her nomination. On this video recorded at Harvard, Kagan appears to agree with Miers' critics.

KAGAN: We don't know much about her views. Honestly, the Republicans have a little bit of, you know, reason to, you know, want to know better who this person is, too.

ACOSTA: The comments sound eerily similar to what Republicans have been saying about Kagan.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: Ms. Kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years.

KAGAN: I have something of a political background myself.

ACOSTA: Also in '05, at a Harvard alumni award dinner for then-Senator Barack Obama, Kagan gushed over the man who will become president, calling him her hero and praising his speech to the 2004 Democratic convention.

KAGAN: You could have heard a pin drop. And in part, that's because of all these, well, you know, rock star qualities that he has, the eloquence, the magnetism, the great looks, the brilliance.

THEN-SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: I am glad that Dean Kagan set the proper tone.

ACOSTA: At a graduation ceremony in 2007 --

KAGAN: You will face choices between doing what is easy and doing what is right.

ACOSTA: Kagan sharply criticized key members of the Bush White House over the administration's secret wiretapping program. She slammed Alberto Gonzales who, as White House counsel, once tried to pressure former Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve the program while Ashcroft was in the hospital.

KAGAN: This is a story, to put it bluntly, of some lawyers who fail to respect the rule of law and of other lawyers who stood up for and vindicated it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: On another video, she takes a gentle dig at Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying his Harvard degree was the best thing about him. Kagan is known for her sense of humor but on many of these videos, Kagan is cautious, steering clear of controversy in public. Videos are now up on the Judiciary Committee's Web site.

And, John, one little surprise nugget that we found in all those videos, at a panel discussion in 2008, she had Jeffrey Toobin, our legal analyst, over -- up at Harvard, and she said of Jeffrey that he taught her everything she knows about the law, that they were study buddies back in their days at Harvard Law School. I think she was having a little bit of fun there, but Mr. Toobin would enjoy that, I think.

ROBERTS: Mr. Toobin maybe is the next nominee. We just have to figure --

ACOSTA: We'll have to see.

ROBERTS: -- which administration.

All right. Jim Acosta, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

ACOSTA: You bet.

CHETRY: In fact, Toobin joked yesterday, he said she's up for the Supreme Court nominee and I'm covering Michael Jackson. What went wrong?

ROBERTS: You know paths, they twist and turn, should have turned left, should have turned right, you know? It's like an interactive flight.

CHETRY: Well, this next story is bittersweet for us here at CNN. Larry King, one of the most enduring faces at this network, has announced that he'll be retiring this fall.

ROBERTS: The broadcasting legend said last night that after 50,000 interviews, he's ready to expand and do things that he hasn't been able to up until now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE: Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast ever of "LARRY KING LIVE." And now decades later, I talk to the guys here at CNN and I told them I'd like to end "LARRY KING LIVE," the nightly show, this fall.

And CNN has graciously accepted to agree to, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games. I'll still be a part of the CNN family, hosting several "LARRY KING" specials on major national and international subjects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And while we wait to see what the future brings for Larry, his past certainly is unforgettable.

CHETRY: It is. And this morning, we want to take a look back at some of Larry's most memorable moments from the past 25 years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING: My name is Larry King and this is the premier edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." Every night at this time, we'll be here for one hour. We're going to meet fascinating people from all walks of life.

Ted Turner called me, said, "Larry, you want to come work to me? You work at 9:00 until 10:00 every night. It's your show."

My agent was the late Bob Wolf. Bob called me up and said, it ain't a bad deal. You give me a nice money, same as your radio money. You're doubling your pay. They give you an option at the end of the year if you're unhappy, you can bail out. So, I said I'll try it.

The favorite guests are those who can do four things, and that would be you have passion, a sense of humor, anger, and ability to explain what you do very well.

DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Larry, all of the interviews you've done, what's been your favorite?

KING: If I had to pick one -- there are so many -- it would probably be Brando. One, because he's so hard to get. He entertained the entire crew. He was sweet, he was funny. At the end of the interview, he kissed me. He was responsive. He was an incredible guest.

I like live TV, and I like unpredictability.

You react unpredictable. You react unpredictably. Nothing wrong with that.

CARRIE PREJEAN, FORMER MISS CALIFORNIA: You're being inappropriate. OK?

KNG: OK. All right. "Inappropriate King Live" continues.

Ahmadinejad, that was something.

Are you denying that a Holocaust existed?

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (via translator): You cannot violate the rights of the audience.

KING: I understand that. But all I wanted to know is: do you agree that there was a Holocaust? That's a simple yes or no.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PRISCILLA PRESLEY: Hello, Larry King.

KING: Hello, Priscilla, dear. Thank you for having us.

PRESLEY: Welcome to Graceland.

KING: That's the most expensive "LARRY KING LIVE" I've ever done, the expense of going there, amount of crew, setting up Graceland, renting that Cadillac. I like doing presidents, of course. You can't get any higher than that. You still like this job?

OBAMA: This is the best job on earth. I mean, it's an extraordinary privilege.

KING: George Bush I, one of the regular guys of all time.

Being a former president, seeing your name on buildings, what's that like?

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: When I see these things, it's great.

KING: Is it hard to drive by the Watergate?

RICHARD NIXON, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: I've never been in the Watergate. So, it's not a hard --

KING: Never been in?

NIXON: Other people were in there, unfortunately.

KING: I live for two things, interviewing people and being on top of a story where I'm in the middle of things. He's on roof 5, he's on 405, and I'm following a map to know where he is going. He's driven through two counties. We followed him all the way.

America under attack.

I found myself at ground zero.

THOMAS VON ESSEN, N.Y. FIRE COMMISSIONER: This was the North Tower. That was the South Tower.

KING: I knew my life had changed, I knew television would change.

KING AND MARLON BRANDO (singing): Got an angel beside me. (INAUDIBLE) to guide me. Got a date with an angel, and I'm on my way to heaven.

BRANDO: When the chapel bells ring out --

KING: Going to make him an offer he can't refuse.

BRANDO: Darling, goodbye.

KING: Goodbye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: What a career.

CHETRY: I know. It's amazing. It is amazing. And he's done it all. He set the "Guinness Book of World Records" as well for the longest running show with the same host in the same time slot.

ROBERTS: From presidents to princes to potentates to Miss California.

CHETRY: There you. Or she didn't even win.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: She didn't win Miss USA. She was Miss California.

ROBERTS: She thought that he was inappropriate though.

CHETRY: The best part was he kept asking her, can you hear me? And she was ignoring him but then she said yes.

ROBERTS: That whole thing was rather bizarre. Wow, what a career, 25 years.

CHETRY: There you go. Well, we wish him the best. As he said, he's going to be around doing many specials and reporting and special shows on all big events.

ROBERTS: Larry's just one of those guys. He's just like the shark that keeps swimming to keep the water flowing over its gills, you know? That's life for him.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROBERTS: Larry's not going anywhere.

CHETRY: Well, we wish him the best.

And meantime, he is the oil spill point man for the Environmental Defense Fund. And he's now headed to Capitol Hill this morning where lawmakers are taking up a bill to try to make offshore drilling safer. But can that even be done? We're going to get some answers about that coming up.

Forty minutes past the hour.

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ROBERTS: It's 42 minutes after the hour.

Members of the House are considering legislation that would try to make offshore drilling safer and keep disasters like the one unfolding off of the coast of Louisiana from ever happening again. At a hearing in just about three hours' time, lawmakers will hear testimony from our next guest, Elgie Holstein. He is the Environmental Defense Fund's oil spill response coordinator. He joins us this morning from Washington.

Elgie, great to hear from you this morning. What's the headline in your testimony today? And I should preface it by saying that it's interesting that you are the point person for the Environmental Defense Fund. You will make points to keep offshore drilling alive.

ELGIE HOLSTEIN, OIL SPILL RESPONSE COORDINATOR, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: Yes, that's because we understand that we are going to have oil and gas as part of our energy mix in this country -- probably for some time to come, although we continue to emphasize that we need to get going immediately on a transition to a clean energy future with the passage of a climate and clean energy bill.

ROBERTS: So, the point that some environmental groups make: no more offshore drilling. Is that a short-sighted one in your estimation?

HOLSTEIN: I think it is an unrealistic one. I don't think anyone is realistically talking about shutting down America's domestic energy production. What all of us realize, what this disaster in the Gulf, which seems to go on day after day, reminds us is that we have to get on with the nation's business of cutting our dependence on oil, especially imported oil, and we need to do that by transitioning our economy to a clean energy future, controlling our carbon emissions so that we put a stop to climate change, and bringing about a new era of jobs and economic development right here in America based on that new energy economy.

ROBERTS: So, as you say, the reality is offshore drilling is going to be with us for some time to come. So, what this legislation seeks to do is to try to make deepwater drilling as safe as possible, prevent another Deepwater Horizon from happening.

And there's three main points in this legislation we want -- we want to highlight here. It would prohibit deep water high-risk wells unless they are shown to have, quote, "number one: an effective blowout preventer. Number two: an oil spill response plan, and a plan to complete a relief well, that is a kill well, in some 90 days."

Now, some people might look at that saying, wow, that's pretty logical to have in place there. Why hasn't that been in place up until now?

HOLSTEIN: I think that the need for this legislation underscores the fact that if oil and gas, particularly in the high- risk areas, such as the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, are going to continue to be part of our energy mix, then we're going to have to do things very differently because our economy, not to mention our environment, simply cannot stand the kind of daily insults and degradation it's suffering as a result of this terrible blowout in the Gulf.

ROBERTS: Sure. But why haven't regulations like that already been in place? Has the government just given over too much to the industry? Has the oversight not been there?

HOLSTEIN: I think that's a fair question. There's been too much complacency on the part of government and industry, and as the industry has moved into the deeper and deeper waters -- in other words, riskier, more exotic frontier areas, the government simply hasn't kept up.

And Congressman Markey's legislation would do, the legislation we're going to be talking about in the hearing this morning is to create new standards for safety, for technical competence, bring in advisors as necessary and certify the functionality and effectiveness of the equipment, not only to ensure the safety of the wells but to make sure that if something does go wrong, we can shut the well down.

ROBERTS: Now, the industry and this legislation put big reliance on these what it called blowout preventers, these big five-story tall devices that they put there on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as a failsafe to a run-away well. Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP, testified before Congress back in June said of blowout preventers that it would appear that the industry's, quote, "ultimate failsafe mechanism is not as failsafe as we believed it to be," talking about the deepwater horizon blowout. Can we, Elgie, really rely on this piece of equipment as a failsafe?

HOLSTEIN: I don't think we should be relying on a single piece of equipment, and that's one of the good things about this legislation that the committee is going to be reviewing in Congress this morning. What it does is require something we see in all basically high-risk, highly technical industrial enterprises, and that's redundancy in the safety system so that you have back-up systems in case your primary systems fail. We had that in the space program. We have that in the nuclear program. We have that in nuclear submarines. We need to have that in offshore oil drilling.

ROBERTS: And if the changes in the Markey bill were implemented, would you be in favor of lifting the six-month moratorium?

HOLSTEIN: No, I wouldn't, John. And I'll tell you why. It seems to me that six months is a reasonable period of time to answer questions that we haven't answered yet. We haven't gotten the answers yet to what happened with this well. And until we get the answers from the independent commission that the president has appointed, I don't think it makes sense to lift that moratorium. ROBERTS: Even though it's creating all this economic hardship on the Gulf Coast.

HOLSTEIN: It's nothing compared to the economic hardship that's being created by the daily oil spill that's shutting down the jobs of fishermen, putting a stop to tourism, et cetera. Those costs far, far exceed the cost to a few oil companies who are, yes, going to have to wait a few months until we find out what killed these 11 workers.

ROBERTS: All right. We're looking forward to your testimony today and the rest of the hearing. Elgie Holstein from the Environmental Defense Fund. Thanks for coming over the preview this morning.

HOLSTEIN: Thank you, John.

ROBERTS: Appreciate it.

CHETRY: You've watched and you've waited and waited some more. Now, it looks like the lock that AT&T has on the iPhone could be over. We're going to get details of a new report about a deal between Verizon and Apple.

Also, hurricane Alex now churning slowly, gaining strength as a hurricane in the Gulf. There's a look at the satellite picture taking up the entire Gulf of Mexico. We're going to get a look at the forecast after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Nine minutes to the top of the hour now. Verizon customers, we've been here before. Once again, rumors are flying that the company will sell the coveted iPhone. Bloomberg news reporting that sources close to the deal say the Apple device will be available in January. Insiders say the timetable makes sense because it coincides with the introduction of Verizon's new faster 4G network. No official comment from the companies themselves.

CHETRY: How's yours working out for you?

ROBERTS: I got this from AT&T as an evaluation model, just try it for a few days. I think the problem with the iPhone 4 that is about 30 minutes after it was activated, it went dead. And I woke it up once or twice, but now, it's dead again. And I went online, and apparently, this is a recurrent problem.

CHETRY: So, this is just dead now.

ROBERTS: Dead, dead, dead.

CHETRY: And had nothing to do with the battery?

ROBERTS: Battery is fully charged. It's just dead.

CHETRY: Yikes.

ROBERTS: I don't know what's going on. Apple, can you help us out here? Got a dead iPhone 4 here. Nothing I do will wake it up.

CHETRY: That's certainly not what they want to hear these days.

ROBERTS: It's a lovely paperweight, though.

CHETRY: Yes. It's beautiful.

Meantime, 52 minutes past the hour right now. We get a quick check of the morning headlines. Our Jacqui Jeras is monitoring Alex, the first hurricane, and really, the earliest one, right, of the season that we've seen in nearly 15 years?

JERAS: Yes, 15 years, since 1995. And John, check to make sure you're charging that iPhone, by the way.

ROBERTS: Fully charged. It couldn't be charged any more. I left it in the computer (ph) all night, it's just dead.

JERAS: Just checking. I can't fit it in my pocket that's why I don't have one of those. Anyway, hey, Alex now a hurricane, guys. This was as of last night, 80-mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds. It's been holding steady with that intensity all night long.

However, look at the size of this thing. I mean wow! It fills up the entire eastern half of the Gulf of Mexico, and it's bringing in these squall lines all the way into parts of Florida, so a very large storm. And we're going to be feeling those tropical storm-force winds and impact in Texas probably just a few hours from now as these squall lines continue to push on through there.

Now, the forecast brings it into northern parts of Mexico. Look at this, Texas no longer even in the cone of uncertainty, but you're likely going to be getting some very heavy rain. Flooding conditions can be expected even into central parts of Texas. Another threat that we have with tropical systems is that tornadoes can be a possibility, so we'll be watching places like Houston, Lake Charles, New Orleans later on today for that threat. They'll come in off that coast or over the open water and make their way on the shoreline.

So, something we'll be watching here as well. Now, there's a stationary front which is parked across parts of the Gulf Coast and that front's been dropping on through throughout the day. That's been good news for those of you in the upper Midwest and the northeast that have just been suffering in a lot of that heat. Tranquil conditions though and much cooler. It's going to be a gorgeous day for you guys in New York City. Can't complain about that.

ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Kiran's trying to do surgery on the iPhone.

CHETRY: It's not working.

ROBERTS: It's not working.

JERAS: She can fix it.

ROBERTS: It's dead. Again, fully charged but completely and utterly dead.

CHETRY: Nice paperweight.

ROBERTS: It is. This morning's top stories just minutes away, including getting grilled and giving back as good as she's getting, even disarming some senators with a few laughs. We'll preview day three of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings from Washington.

CHETRY: And at 18 minutes past 7:00 eastern, issue number one -- are we headed for another recession? Stocks tanking again whether the writing's on the wall.

ROBERTS: And at 53 minutes after, fat nation. A new report says the U.S. is bigger than it's ever been before with everyone from the White House kitchen to the fast food counter trying to get healthier. So, why are we still growing? Dr. Gupta lays it out for us.

Those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If this is what a typical art show looks like, then you might consider this art 2.0.

MIKE RAGSDALE, FOUNDER, DIGITAL GRAFFITI: Digital Graffiti is the world's first projection art festival.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's an event that transforms the quiet beach town of Alys Beach Florida into a new kind of art movement.

CHRISTINA PIERSON, ARTIST: It's amazing what it does to the projections as they go, and they bend around (INAUDIBLE). They sort of climb up the walls and get into the crevices.

RAGSDALE: The projections really come to life because we do have all of this amazing white space. The architecture here is inspired by the Architecture of Bermuda, the white homes there. Let's turn our town into the world's first blank canvas.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Once the sun goes down, the town-sized canvas creates a whole new experience.

RAGSDALE: Digital Graffiti fuses together three things that have never been fused together before, art, architecture, and technology.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's a combination that is shining light not only on new artists but hopefully painting a new picture for art lovers.

PIERSON: I'd love to see people connect with digital art and video art this way. It's great to come out here and feel to actually experience how different it is to see artwork that is not on paper, that's not static, something that's moving and engaging in this way. I really think it's exciting.

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