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American Morning
Mother Nature Brings Double Threat to the East Coast; RNC Chairman Michael Steele Under Fire; Beachgoers Concerned About the Safety of the Gulf Waters; Candidates Gone Wild With Political Ads; Markets: Bear Watch; Meet the Fusionists; Eclipsing the Competition; Gaga's 10 Millions Fans
Aired July 05, 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 Monday morning to you. And thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's a holiday for many people in America.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Not for us.
ROBERTS: Not for us here because we love to work. It's the 5th of July. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being here this morning. We have a lot to talk about. Let's get right to it.
With four months left until they try to win back the House and Senate, some big Republicans are lining up against their party leader for saying that the U.S. may not be able to win in Afghanistan and that its President Obama's war. So can Michael Steele get out of this one? We're live in Washington.
ROBERTS: The east coast is bracing for a six-day heat wave. From Boston to Raleigh, there's a threat of triple digit temperatures all week long. Plus, there's a 50/50 shot of another tropical cyclone forming in the Caribbean over the next 48 hours.
CHETRY: And is the water safe? Signs warning of oil now posted on Florida beaches, but does that mean that everybody should avoid the surf? We're going to hear what the head of the EPA has to say about swimming in the gulf.
And the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation. Head to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: Well, if you thought the Fourth of July was a hot one, we're sorry to say that you have not seen anything yet. Up and down the east coast all this week, we're going to see triple digit temperatures.
CHETRY: The CNN weather team also has its collective eye on the tropics as well. More storms trying to develop and the peak of hurricane season is still two months away.
Let's bring in our Reynolds Wolf right now in the extreme weather center. And talking about the heat, this is going to be quite oppressive in many places across the country.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: At present this is going to be brutal. It's going to be unreal. Take a look at some of these temperatures. It's hard to believe Boston going up to 95 degrees today, 98 degrees in New York, 99 for Washington, D.C., and that's only part of the story. The other part, the high humidity. The high humidity is going to make it feel like it's well beyond the century mark and this is something we're going to deal with not just for a day but several days.
Keep in mind though just an interesting wrinkle to all these, New Hampshire, down to Washington, just last Thursday, they have reports of snowfall. So we're seeing a big change in the trends. No question about it that the ridge will remain in place for quite some time.
The other big story that we're talking about in terms of heating up, that would certainly be the tropics. It is that time of year, but you see this kind of development is a little bit unusual. We've got a couple spots we're watching. One right off the eastern seaboard, one in portions of the inter-tropical conversion zone. One little development also over parts of the Gulf Coast, but this one, just east of the Yucatan peninsula is one area we're deeply concerned with. This one has about a 50/50 chance of developing into a tropical cyclone, one we're going to watch very carefully. And it is one that could follow the path of Hurricane Alex.
That's the latest we got for you. More coming up throughout the morning, of course. Let's send it back to you in New York.
CHETRY: All right, Reynolds Wolf for us. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: Meantime, what could be the last straw for Republican Party Chair Michael Steele? He's trying to clean up and survive a political mess this morning after suggesting that we may not be able to win the war in Afghanistan. A war he said was President Obama's choosing.
ROBERTS: This comes at a time when many conservatives are trying to get the White House to drop talk about a timetable for a troop drawdown in Afghanistan. And while several party leaders were in the war zone for the Fourth of July weekend, Jill Dougherty has reaction from all sides live from Washington this morning.
Jill, just how much hot water is the RNC chairman in today?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, his comments, especially as you pointed out the timing and indicating that essentially he believes the war is unwinnable are creating a real furor. So let's begin with exactly what Michael Steele said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Keep in mind, again, for our federal candidates, this is a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something that the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: So Steele did clarify his remarks. He said there is no question America must win the war on terror. But two party leaders who happened to be in Afghanistan and both of them senior Republicans on the Armed Services Committee came out and condemned those remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think those statements are wildly inaccurate. I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: This made angry, upset, it was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment. This is not President Obama's war. This is America's war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: So that's the view of two Republicans, but there are other Republicans who have different views. In fact, the influential conservative commentator Bill Kristol thinks that Steele ought to step down. Liz Cheney also believes that he ought to step down. But you also have Representative Ron Paul who says he's guiding the party in the right direction, and actually saying things, speaking truth, as he put it, about the war. So you do have some division in exactly what they think should happen with Steele.
CHETRY: He survived other calls to step aside before. Who ultimately decides whether or not he needs to resign?
DOUGHERTY: Well, it's the RNC. And as you point out, he has had been in hot water before. But you know, the question is what's his value to the party and that's what they're going to have to determine.
CHETRY: Jill Dougherty for us at the White House. Thank you.
Well, also developing this morning, even more Gulf Coast jobs hanging in the balance on what is now day 77 of the Gulf Coast oil disaster. This morning, the government has shut down even more fishing in the gulf. In all, 33 percent of the gulf is off limits and that means an area about the size of Kansas is now closed.
ROBERTS: Also, BP announcing this morning it has spent more than $3.1 billion since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded back in April. There are also new concerns that a shift in weather patterns could send more of the slick ashore. And as our John Zarrella tells us this morning, that's raising new questions about whether it is safe to swim in the Gulf of Mexico.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, just take a look behind me. This is the economic exclamation point on the gulf oil disaster. On a normal Fourth of July, this beach would have been packed. Clearly, it was not. And folks here were not supposed to be in the water but the lifeguards allowed them in so they could at least cool off in the hot sun.
Now down in Pensacola, whether people should be allowed in the water or not, has become quite the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): More cleanup crews than we have seen in days scoured this section of Pensacola Beach. Perhaps just a coincidence, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson dropped by for a firsthand look at the work.
LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: It has no odor, so (INAUDIBLE) are long gone out of there.
ZARRELLA: While it's pretty clear the beach is a mess, what isn't clear to people here is whether the water is safe for swimming.
(on camera): Oil impact notice. These are the signs that have now been posted on all of 40 miles of Escambia County's coastline and they say, avoid wading, swimming or entering the water, but they don't say you can't get in.
(voice-over): What would administrator Jackson do?
JACKSON: Based on the fact that this beach has been oiled, no, I would not go into the water today.
ZARRELLA: Cindy O'Sullivan and Jamie King (ph) couldn't agree more. They've lived in Pensacola for years.
(on camera): Would you get in that water right now?
CINDY O'SULLIVAN, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: There's no way. I don't understand why people are in it. It looks good. It looks pretty, but it's not.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Well, that depends upon who you talk with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I would go into the water.
ZARRELLA: Dr. John Lanza heads the county health department. Lanza believes the water is safe unless you see tar balls or sheen on the water, or you feel oily and not from suntan lotion. For now, the county commission is not banning swimming until the EPA gives them concrete guidance.
DR, JOHN LANZA, ESCAMBIA CO. HEALTH DIRECTOR: Until we get a standard from the EPA on the levels of the petrol chemicals in the water so that we don't suggest people go into the water specifically for that, we can't do anything.
JACKSON: There is nothing that I'm going to be able to tell you in a chemical lab that you can't learn about the safety of the water from a bathing purpose by looking at it and smelling it.
ZARRELLA: It looked pretty good to the Van Slitz (ph) family vacationing from Oklahoma. They played in the surf. They hadn't seen the "avoid the water" sign and no one told them not to go in.
(on camera): If they were warning you to stay out of the water --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We wouldn't have gotten in.
ZARRELLA: You wouldn't have gotten in?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): The bottom line seems to be this. Right now, scientifically, no one is sure whether the water is safe. You're on your own. Just smell it first.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Next week in Pensacola is considered an even bigger weekend than the Fourth of July. That's Blue Angels weekend and the folks there are hoping that if the beach can't be a draw, at least the Blue Angels will be -- John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: John Zarrella for us this morning. John, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, cities across the country celebrating Independence Day with a fireworks display. Here's a view of the Fourth of July fireworks in D.C. The display gave spectators in our nation's capital 17 full minutes of lights and sounds. An estimated 400,000 people showed up.
ROBERTS: And from the South Lawn of the White House, the First Family hosted military troops and their families for a Fourth of July barbecue. All 1,200 guests were treated to music by the Killer, as well as the U.S. Marines. Of course, everyone was treated to hot dogs and hamburgers and for dessert, ice cream sandwiches, though you really had to eat them quickly yesterday.
CHETRY: Yes, you did.
For the fourth year in a row, competitive eater Joey Chestnut who, of course, was on our show Friday, won the Nathan's famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. He thought he could do more than 68, which is his record. But he had some trouble yesterday in the heat, as did a lot of the contestants. Chestnut ended up throwing back 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes, of course, which is nothing to sneeze at, but it was still 14 short of his world record from last year's competition. Chestnut retains the mustard belt and pockets $20,000.
ROBERTS: If you don't have to eat 68 hot dogs, why would you?
CHETRY: Why would you, right. But he said, you know, as you know, Kobayashi, his biggest competitor, didn't compete but was in the audience inexplicably.
ROBERTS: Yes. We're about to talk about that, actually, because Takeru Kobayashi was arrested yesterday at the Coney Island event. He rushed the stage just after the contest. Was nabbed by the NYPD. Even watching from the stands because of a contract dispute with major league eating.
Yes, there is a governing body, major league eating. Kobayashi's handler says the former champ wanted to prove that he's better than the other competitors. Instead, he's charged with trespassing and two misdemeanors including resisting arrest.
CHETRY: I was grabbing on to the barrier, get on to the stage, prove that you can eat more than your other competitors? Better luck next year.
ROBERTS: The barricade where a giant hot dog or a large pretzel, perhaps, he would eat it.
CHETRY: There you go.
Well, they looked like they might be clips from an upcoming action Hollywood action flick, but it's actually a Tommy gun-toting woman. She's running for office. Just ahead, a look at some of the odd campaign ads that are going viral.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Thirteen minutes past the hour right now.
It is only July but across America campaign ads for the upcoming midterm elections have already gone viral.
ROBERTS: And here's the reason why. Attention-grabbing spots featuring female candidates firing machine guns, actors playing our founding fathers and the dirtier side of dairy farms. Jim Acosta joins us now from Washington this morning with a closer look.
You got to say, Jim, in terms of, you know, interest and inventiveness, they've taken it to a whole new level.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You know, every election we talk about how sick we are at campaign ads. This year, they're very entertaining. What can I say?
Members of Congress are on break this week, John and Kiran, but that does not mean Americans are getting a vacation from their politicians. With the midterm elections fast approaching, candidates are finding all sorts of new ways to target voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meet Pamela Gorman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA (voice-over): If the campaign season is starting to feel like open season, it's because the ads are already locked -- and loaded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rated 100 percent by the NRA, conservative Pamela Gorman is always right on target.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Republican Pamela Gorman has racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube with this spot showing the Arizona congressional candidate and her son taking target practice in the desert. That's Gorman sporting an old Tommy gun.
PAMELA GORMAN (R), AZ CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We'd never imagined in a million years that it would go as far as it did.
ACOSTA: We caught up with Gorman between fund-raisers in California. She thanks left-leaning bloggers and talk show hosts for helping her ad go viral.
GORMAN: I think most of it is getting passed on by people that probably wouldn't agree with my conservative politics. And if they really stop and thought about how much they're helping me by doing so, they might stop.
ACOSTA (on camera): Are you packing heat right now?
GORMAN: I'm in California. I don't think anybody but criminals have guns in California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gentlemen revolted over a tea tax. A tea tax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Tea party-backed Republican Rick Barber calls for revolution with this ad featuring actors playing the founding fathers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gather your armies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SABATO, UVA CENTER FOR POLITICS: I know Thomas Jefferson. He's a friend of mine and the guy in his ad is no Thomas Jefferson.
ACOSTA: Laugh all you want, Barber may be on to something. SABATO: It's the year of the Tea Party. It's actually a good visual way to connect with the kind of people who may very well vote in a Republican runoff. That's what he's in.
REP. TOM PERRIELLO (D), VIRGINIA: I know times have been tough for Virginia families.
ACOSTA: Even incumbents like Democrat Tom Perriello are trying to go viral with this ad showing the congressman getting more than just his hands dirty.
PERRIELLO: I fought that new job to dairy farms, to protect jobs here in law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warning. The following is a paid advertisement from J.D. Hayworth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buyer beware (ph).
ACOSTA: In this ad, John McCain accuses his challenger, J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman who went on to host a late-night infomercial, of selling fringe ideas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or a Kenyan safari to find Obama's lost birth certificate. It would be great if people can confirm who they say they are.
ACOSTA: Duck and cover, Election Year is only just beginning.
PAMELA GORMAN (R), ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Pamela Gorman, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: At least she approves it.
And the ads will keep on coming. That's because candidates are expected to spend more money than ever before on the upcoming mid- terms. That's because the Supreme Court opened the floodgates on political contributions and special interest groups right up until Election Day, John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: You got to wonder though, Jim, that if they can get so much bang for their buck by putting these ads at the internet -
ACOSTA: No pun intended.
ROBERTS: Yes. And having them go viral, maybe they wouldn't go so much the traditional route of advertising as candidates have in the past.
ACOSTA: That's right. I mean, you know, you don't really, you know, need the TV quite as much as you used to because, I mean, take Pamela Gorman, for example. She tells us that she has - what? Nine other opponents in that Republican primary down in Arizona, so she's trying to do anything to break through all of those competitors. And here she has this ad that's being passed around by liberal talk show hosts, by liberal bloggers. Now we're talking about it, and - and her feeling is that this is only helping. So, yes, I mean, this is all made for YouTube, Twitter, you know, e-mail exchanges and so forth. And - and who needs the 30-second spot anymore?
ROBERTS: Yes. All you need to get noticed is a Tommy gun. Just ask Bugsy Malone.
ACOSTA: Exactly. I don't think she'd put that away anytime soon.
CHETRY: They don't show what she's actually shooting at, though. They only show - you know, off camera, I wonder what's getting shot at?
All right. Jim, maybe -
ACOSTA: She tells us just target practice.
CHETRY: -- maybe that's part two.
ACOSTA: Exactly.
CHETRY: Maybe that's the next ad.
ACOSTA: Thank you (ph).
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Jim.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Jim.
Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, it was a pretty rough first half of the year for the stock market. What does the second half look like? Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour now. Christine Romans joins us on this holiday Monday with a look at the stock markets. I guess they're closed today.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are. Mercifully.
ROBERTS: Which is - mercifully, which is a good thing, right, because they can't go down anymore.
ROMANS: Yes. So the bear we sighted over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
ROBERTS: It's a grizzly.
ROMANS: Right. You know -
ROBERTS: With big, long claws.
ROMANS: Stocks have gone down basically for two months.
ROBERTS: Sharp, pointed teeth.
ROMANS: Yes. It's been - and if you're a stock investor, you know this. I mean, there's this old saying on Wall Street, sell in May and go away, and if you look at what's happened in stocks, it looks like that's exactly what people have been doing.
There are a lot of concerns and uncertainties about the - about the economy, and that has driven stocks down 14 percent in the past couple of months. The Dow Jones Industrial average down 14 percent from its peak, the S&P 500 down 16 percent from its peak and NASDAQ down 17 percent.
Why do those numbers matter? Because when it's down 20 percent, that's officially a bear market, and sometimes that causes even more selling. Sometimes it inspires people to bargain hunt and buy. Who knows?
But there are some fundamental reasons why the stock market is unraveling here, among them the crisis in Europe. Look, this is our biggest export market, so this is a problem. I mean, why are companies going to start adding jobs if they're worried about their biggest customer?
There's also a weak housing market. We - after we saw the - the first time homebuyer tax credit, you know, run out (INAUDIBLE) some real concerns whether the housing market -
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: The sales were down 30 percent. I mean, that's - that's unreal.
ROMANS: And Congress is moving, too. There are a lot of people who are caught in this first time homebuyer tax credit morass, where they couldn't get it done in time. Those people might be able to get some more time to - to get that done by September 30th, but that's - still, is the house - does the house -
The house and your job. These are the two most important things for you and (INAUDIBLE) worried about consumer spending. We're just worried about where we are, talking about a double dip. We've all been talking - are we going to slip back into another recession? Most people still think -
ROBERTS: Let's hope not.
ROMANS: Let's hope now. Most people think we're going to have a slow recovery, slower than the stock market had anticipated when it was up 80 percent, and that's why we had a bear sighting for the Fourth of July. So we'll see if it continues this week.
CHETRY: All right. Hopefully it wouldn't, but - ROMANS: But we should be prepared.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: A small but devoted group of amateur scientists think that this is the future of green energy. It's not solar or wind. We're talking about people who are building nuclear fusion reactors in their basements. We're going to take a look up next.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Just coming up now to 26 minutes after the hour. Your top stories just a few minutes away. But first, an "A.M. Original", something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
On the path to better, greener power, there are a lot of options out there - solar, wind, hydroelectric. But for a small and very devoted group, the way to move ahead is nuclear fusion, and believe it or not that tech-savvy guy next door may just be building a fusion reactor in his basement.
Believe it or not, our Carol Costello introduces us to one of these amateur scientists.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, they're called fusionists. It's hard to pin down an exact number, but it's believed there are 38 people in the United States, who have no scientific background, but have managed to create fusion in their basements or in a warehouse. Why, you ask? To save the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): A warehouse in Brooklyn. Inside a dream that is realized could change everything.
MARK SUPPES, AMATEUR NUCLEAR PHYSICIST: You can hear it sounds like a jet engine.
COSTELLO: This is Mark Suppes, a web designer for Gucci by day, an amateur science junkie or fusionist by night.
SUPPES: You can hear it. It kind of get - getting higher and higher. The anticipation is building.
COSTELLO (on camera): It is.
SUPPES: Are you excited?
COSTELLO: I am excited.
SUPPES: OK. COSTELLO (voice-over): Suppes has built a nuclear fusion reactor. A machine he hopes one day will imitate the sun's power and power our world.
COSTELLO (on camera): So what is the hope? What is the goal?
SUPPES: The hope and the goal are that this will lead to a viable energy technology that will one day replace coal and oil.
COSTELLO: Suppes' dream is not new. Nuclear fusion has long been considered the Holy Grail of energy production. Atoms are forcibly joined releasing energy, produce enough and you get Suppes' dream.
The problem, even the most brilliant, trained scientists haven't figured out how to do it in a way that creates more energy than it consumes.
COSTELLO (on camera): Professor, meet Mark.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Professor Bob Park admires Suppes' passion, but says his reactor is primitive compared to the sophisticated gigantic reactors physicists use now. Still -
PROFESSOR ROBERT PARK, PHYSICIST, UNIVERSITY OR MARYLAND: There is always that possibility that he might come up with some little trick that nobody else has thought of.
COSTELLO (on camera): You can figure it out?
SUPPES: I mean, I'm not saying that I can figure it out necessarily, but I think that it can be done and I think that I can be instrumental in doing it.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Suppes has spent $37,000 of his own money and two years of his life to create this nuclear fusion reactor.
SUPPES: The first step is we suck all the air out of the chamber.
COSTELLO: He bought the mechanical parts on eBay. As for the necessary ingredients like the isotope element Deuterium -
COSTELLO (on camera): But where do you buy it?
SUPPES: In - there's a company called Matheson Tri-Gas in New Jersey.
COSTELLO: So you bought the Deuterium in New Jersey?
SUPPES: Yes.
COSTELLO: These are normal people.
SUPPES: And they FedEx it - they FedEx it over. COSTELLO (voice-over): After a series of steps, Suppes makes fusion. He says it happens inside that tube with a glowing purple star.
COSTELLO (on camera): Some people might just imagine, you know, Jerry Lewis in the lab, you know, the crazy scientist. Is that who you are?
SUPPES: And minus the hair.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Suppes just might be a little crazy, but he is passionate about changing the world.
COSTELLO (on camera): And so how would you like to go down in the history books?
SUPPES: I want to go down as the progenitor of the fusion era.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Suppes' next step, raising $200 to $400 million to build a bigger reactor, the kind you need to solve a scientific problem that no trained physicist has ever managed to do in 50 years - John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: The next step is to raise $200 million to $400 million. That's - that's a step.
CHETRY: That's a huge hurdle.
ROBERTS: That's - that's a leap.
CHETRY: But once, I mean, you know, if he get somebody to finance it who thinks that he's on to something.
ROBERTS: You just never know. There's always that other fellow said, it seems to be sort of primitive and already been eclipsed by other ones out there. But, hey, everybody's trying it. It's great to see local inventors kicking in there.
Crossing the half hour, that means it's time for this morning's top stories. GOP Chairman Michael Steele catching heat from his own party for saying Afghanistan is a war of President Obama's choosing and suggesting that we shouldn't be there anymore.
Senators including John McCain and Jim DeMint have condemned those comments, but Congressman Ron Paul praised Steele for speaking what he said was the truth about the war.
CHETRY: Well, we could find out today if the world's largest skimmer gets the OK to join the oil clean up in the Gulf. The ship called "A Whale" underwent testing in an area north of the gusher over the weekend. Initial results will due anytime now. The owners claim the ship can skim 21 million gallons of oil a day.
ROBERTS: And get ready for summer to really kick in. And we're talking with a vengeance here. Up and down the east coast, all week long, a dangerous heat wave is bringing triple-digit highs. The CNN weather team is also watching the tropics. We could see several systems come together over the next few days. A full update is still ahead from our Reynolds Wolf.
CHETRY: And now to the stalled bill that's making life miserable for more than 1 million out-of-work Americans. Last week, the House passed add bill to extend benefits to those who have been unemployed longer than six months. But by then, the Senate had really taken off for a week-long break.
And it's certainly left Debra Rousey in a tough spot. She lost her job as a bank branch manager in November and her last unemployment check cleared about two weeks ago.
Debra joins us from Atlanta this morning.
You wrote a very passionate explanation as well of what you're going through and what many like you are going through and how you were relying on Congress to extend these unemployment benefits.
Thanks for being with us this morning. Tell us a little about your personal story. How did you end up where we are today?
DEBRA ROUSEY, UNEMPLOYED SINCE NOVEMBER: Well, you know, I lost my job and was on unemployment starting in November and I got my -- the checks from unemployment were about one-third of what I was used to making. With the help of family and friends, my kids and I, support my 17-year-old son and I have a daughter that's home in school and two grandchildren, and we've just been trying to make things work and make ends meet. And it's been really tough with the unemployment check, and now that the unemployment check is gone, it's even -- it's basically impossible.
CHETRY: So, what are you guys going to do?
ROUSEY: That's a good question. I mean, we're really desperate and wondering exactly where the next bit of money's going to come in and help pay the rent. I mean, my rent is overdue. My utilities are overdue. Everything is right there at the shutoff point.
Lucky for me, I have had some family come through and help keep things going as long as we have, but it is definitely a desperate situation.
CHETRY: And just to give people an example of, you know, what your resume is like. I mean, you have a college degree. On top of that, you're actually studying for your master's degree right now.
ROUSEY: Correct.
CHETRY: You also have an associate's degree in business, to get a little bit more education and to make yourself more marketable. You've been sending resumes out constantly.
ROUSEY: Yes. CHETRY: What's it like out there to be super-qualified and not able to get a job?
ROUSEY: It's -- it's horrible. I mean, it's not -- it's just not being able to get a job. It's not being able to get an interview. I probably average five resumes online to various companies and job site locations daily, and with nothing. It's just -- quiet. There's no response whatsoever.
And it's just heartbreaking, because I've always been a person who has been able to find a job, who has not had a problem keeping a job, and the this is my longest time I've ever been unemployed and it's just devastating for me and my family.
CHETRY: And you talk about that as well. I mean, were you a bank branch manager. So, we were trying to find, you know, something along those lines and then you were saying, OK, look, I'll take an entry level position. I'll take anything at this point.
Why do you think it's so hard? I mean, are you overqualified in cases and people just aren't going to hire you?
ROUSEY: Absolutely. Absolutely. They look at my resume, and they see that I've been in the workforce for 25 years or more, and that I've got office management experience and bank branch management experience, and it limits the amount of availability that I can provide.
People don't want to hire me, because they think I want too much money or I am overqualified. I started looking for jobs originally in banking, as branch managers. I stepped down to assistant branch manager. I stepped down it financial services representatives. I applied for every office manager position I could find online that I qualify for.
I even applied at McDonald's. McDonald's wouldn't even offer me an interview.
CHETRY: You know, you tell a story that a lot of people are telling as well right now. I mean, it's a very, very tough market, as we know. Unemployment tick downed in June only because there are a lot of people that actually dropped off the grid, they stopped looking.
ROUSEY: Yes.
CHETRY: It's very, very difficult situation for people out there. It's also proving to be quite a difficult situation for the government. I mean, everybody, I guess, is assuming that once Congress is back in session after this Fourth of July recess, that they are going to approve an extension of benefits which has been the longest that we've seen, you know, since the program was enacted and apparently, they're going to retroactively give money out as well to sort of fill that gap.
But the government right now is also facing a huge, huge problem. And some members of Congress argue we simply don't have the money to continue to extend unemployment benefits. If you could talk directly to lawmakers out there what would you say?
ROUSEY: I'm sick and tired of lawmakers pointing fingers at each other. You know, I raised three kids. And whenever my kid broke something, there was always, I didn't do it, she did it. I didn't do it, she did it.
And that's all I'm seeing in Congress. They're pointing fingers. It's not our fault. It's their fault, back and forth, and I'm sick ever it.
Stop bickering, roll up your sleeve, sit down and figure out what the problem is and fix it. We've been -- as a country, we've been in this predicament before and we've gotten out of it. Look back into history. Figure out what it was that got us tough to and do it again.
I'm not an economist. I can't tell what you what we need to do, but I know somebody out there definitely know what needs to be done and we just need Congress to go ahead and do it.
CHETRY: Well, Debra, I wish you the best of luck with your job search. I know that it's not easy right now. And thanks for sharing your story with us this morning.
ROUSEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Stay with us because coming up in just a couple minutes, we're going to break down what potential opportunities might be out there for people like Debra Rousey. People who are unemployed for six months or more and they're seeing benefits run out now because of the inaction by Congress.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. More than 1 million jobless Americans cut off from their benefits all because lawmakers can't see eye to eye. Before the break, we talked to Debra Rousey. She's a former bank branch manager in Georgia who got her final unemployment check last month.
So, what should workers like Debra do now and what does it mean for the big picture, for the long-term unemployed?
We're joined by our own Christine Romans, and Diane Brady, she's the senior editor from "Bloomberg BusinessWeek."
We were just talking during the break about Debra's situation. And it's got to be terrifying.
DIANE BRADY, BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK: Oh, yes. ROBERTS: You get anxiety just listening to what she says, but what do you -- what do you think she could be doing differently than she is?
BRADY: Well, one thing that stood out was she's applying, you know, sending out five resumes a day, she said, online. That's been notoriously ineffective. Number one, it's very easy. Thousands and thousands of people are applying for jobs that way.
So, what is she's -- what she's doing is not strategic. And I think that's one thing. Stop carpet-bombing your resume and really look around your community and get out there and talk to people. So, I think that's one thing.
The other question I had that didn't necessarily come up is: what other assistance programs is she using? Is she using Medicaid? Is she using food stamps?
People who often have been in the workforce a long time are pretty proud. Now is the time to go out and get that assistance. It's called the social safety net for a reason. So, she should be using as many of the assistance programs that she can so she can free herself up for work.
ROBERTS: So, if you're doing things online, you said during the break, Christine, you should never online because then you're just like one of 100,000 people who are out there? So, what do you do differently?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You need a name. You need a name that that resume is going to go to. It shouldn't just go blindly to the human resources department or a name of somebody you don't know. You need someone to give you the entree to that job, connections and network. I hate to say it -- but everyone I know who has found a job, it's because someone helped them get there.
I interviewed a guy who lost his job at an electronics retailer, and he went to all of the competitors in town and said, I used to work for competitor. I know so and so, and they all knew who that person was. And he said, this is how it can make you some money, you need to be able to tell -- she needs to be able to go and say, this is how I'm going to make money for your office.
ROBERTS: Right. You got to be able to say, not just I can do the job, but here's what I can do in the job. I can do it better. Here's the value added by hiring me.
ROMANS: I don't want to blame the victim either because here's the thing about this labor market, you can do everything right and there's not a job at the other end. She's in Georgia in financial services. Their banks have been going bust every week in Georgia, because they lent too much during the boom. There will not be at many banking jobs maybe there for her.
You know, you can tell her to try to retrain the office manager skills into health care. She says she's been trying to find other office manager jobs, but this is the whole crux of the debate about unemployment benefits. This is the worst labor market in 70 years. There might not be a job at the other end right now. And that's why they're arguing about the benefits.
BRADY: And not in her profession certainly. That's one of the issues, administrative assistance, office managers -- those are one of the areas that is shrinking.
So, one of the good thing she could do is take the skills she has. She could be doing financial literacy seminars. I didn't hear her talk about volunteering. Obviously, she's got a very big responsibility with the grandkids and such.
ROBERTS: It's a great way to give back but also a great way to network.
BRADY: Great way to network, and as Christine says, how to get a job.
ROMANS: And to fill the gap on the resume, too, because a lot of people have a big gap. She's one of the long-term unemployed.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANS: I mean, economists worry that once she's been out for six months or longer, we know that -- we know that people are trying to hire people who still have a job.
ROBERTS: And it so common to run into people who have been out of work for six months or longer. You know, we talk about the effect of Congress not acting on another extension of unemployment benefits. But you've got that rock and a hard place situation in Washington where you just can't keep spending money.
BRADY: Ad it's interesting, the number of people who now talk about entitlement and now talk about how you're providing a disincentive to look for work. A lot of people looking for work would say that's not the case. But even the head of manpower I was talking to has brought this up as an issue and you start talking about 99 weeks. Are you giving the people incentive to get out there and retrain, and get out there and look beyond the profession they've been in?
So, it's interesting that you are starting to see this "blame the victim" mentality.
ROBERTS: Yes.
BRADY: But it's a very, you know, entrenched problem.
ROBERTS: We mentioned health care. Christine, you've done a lot of stories on this. Where are the jobs that are available?
ROMANS: The health care jobs are interesting because they're in every community, because the demand is never (INAUDIBLE). You don't necessarily have to move. Sometimes, you hear economists say, oh, well, she should pick up and move to a part of country where there's jobs growing -- but for your family, it's not always the best thing to do.
ROBERTS: But where are the jobs?
ROMANS: There are jobs in -- there's a lot of jobs in retraining for physical therapy. There are jobs in office management for health care, for sure, insurance processing. And when we have health care reform, it starts to pick up the next couple of years, I'm sure they'll even more, but analyzing data, things that she might be able to take some of her skills and turn them to.
BRADY: And sadly, the -- you know, the service sector continues to about place that's shrinking now, but that will be where a lot of the jobs are. The reality is, they're lower-paying jobs for the most part than what a lot of Americans have been expecting.
ROBERTS: That sounds like at this point she's willing to take almost anything.
ROMANS: She's said that McDonald's that they wouldn't -- that they wouldn't give -- I mean, you look at her resume, you would think that maybe she wouldn't stick around once she gets another job. You can see why McDonald's hiring manager would say this woman is too qualified,.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, some good tips for her this morning.
Christine and Diane, great to see you this morning. Thanks.
BRADY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: By the way, you did ask Diane about whether or not she's pursuing some of the other social services, she said no to food stamps, no to Medicaid. You know, she just said that she just feels too proud to do that.
ROBERTS: And Diane mentioned that. She said that many people have been in the workforce a long time just feel that they can't take those entitlements. But there comes a point where, you've got survive. So, maybe she'll have to.
CHETRY: Very true. All right, good conversation, guys.
Meanwhile, we're coming up on 45 minutes past the hour. Reynolds Wolf is tracking extreme heat along the east coast and storms brewing out in the Atlantic. He's going to have this morning's forecast for you right after the break.
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KRISTEN STEWART, ACTRESS: Edward -- ROBERT PATTINSON, ACTOR: If you ever touch her again --
STEWART: Don't do this.
TAYLOR LAUTNER, ACTOR: She's not sure what she wants.
PATTINSON: What gives you a clue? Wait for her to say the words.
LAUTNER: Fine, then she will.
STEWART: Jacob, just go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A tortured love triangle between a vampire, a wolf, and a teenage girl stole hearts at the box office this weekend. "Twilight's Eclipse" debut at #1 earning $69 million. It's also rate (ph) in for $161 million in its first five days in the theaters. This might being penned by critics "The Last Airbender" blew into second place with $40 million in sales, "Toy Story 3" fell back to third position.
CHETRY: Lady Gaga eclipsing even the president in the Facebook popularity contest. Friday, the singer became the first living person to have more than 10 million fans beating out her strongest contender, President Obama. Though, it may be a while before she can overtake the late Michael Jackson who now is more 14 million fans.
ROBERTS: It's amazing. Three or four years ago, she couldn't (ph) get arrested. And now, she's just popular.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable. What a change of image (INAUDIBLE).
Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Our Reynolds Wolf in the Extreme Weather Center. And talk about an image change, people are going to be wearing lighter clothes I would think for the next few days here -- Reynolds.
WOLF: Yes, it's going to be a smart move. I mean, it is going to be just stifling in many parts of the northeast including Philadelphia and New York, even the nation's capital. But let's focus mostly on New York and Philadelphia for this specific weather cast. And we're going to see the heat index rises over the next couple of days anywhere from 98 to 101. And then in places like Philadelphia, heat index anywhere from 98 to 106, through winds a very, very high humidity, and of course, plenty of sunshine and that's going to give you the results.
Keep in mind, though, in New Hampshire, wrap (ph) reminder on this, last Thursday, we actually had snowfall near Mount Washington. So, again, we are seeing a big transformation. The transformation give you felt in a lot of places. Also warm back towards Detroit where high temperatures will be in the 80s, 90s, Chicago with 85, Washington D.C. at the height of 99, 90 in Atlanta, 85 in New Orleans. That to tell you something right there when New York and Washington are going to be higher than New Orleans. Now, it will definitely be the case today.
Same view in Miami where highs are going to be into the upper 80s, 82 in Denver, 103 in Las Vegas. Now, smug dab in the middle of the country, you're going to see something else, a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Some of those maybe is strong especially into the afternoon and then something else we're watching that's heating up and also involves some bit of some heavy rainfall would be what we've been seeing in parts of the tropics. We got some development out there.
Not unusual this time of the year, but we got four areas of concern, one right up the Florida Coast, one also in the Northern Gulf, and another near the lesser Antilles, but this one is the one that we're most concern with the National Hurricane Center is watching this area of deep convection, about a 50/50 possibility this may become a named storm. And if it is named storm, some of the models show are showing and then (INAUDIBLE) a path, it might be very similar to the one taken by hurricane Alex.
We're going to have more on that coming up throughout the morning, and of course, throughout the day. Of course, we are your weather center, your hurricane watch center. We're going to have more on that coming up a little bit. Busy times, guys. No surprise to see this happen maybe this time of year. Maybe, it's getting to August, more of an August or even a September pattern, but then, it's certainly cranking up.
ROBERTS: Right. And you know, in terms of our temperatures, too, remember last year was the year without a summer. We seem to be getting two this year. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: All right. Appreciate it.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: Your top stories just minutes away including open season on campaign season. A pistol-packing Congressional candidate going viral on the web. Can YouTube tip the scales in 2010?
ROBERTS: And Madonna talking with our Alina Cho about her mission, her passion. It's an "AM Original," big stars, big giving. Those stories and more coming your way at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: From sea to shining sea, the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air.
CHETRY: Yes, it gave us proof through the night that it was America's birthday once again. Here's a look at how you celebrated the Fourth of July. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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ROBERTS: Amazing fireworks displays.
CHETRY: Beautiful. Nothing like seeing it over the Washington monument.
ROBERTS: Oh, it's beautiful that in Washington. I was flying into New York last night about 9:30.
CHETRY: Did you see?
ROBERTS: And we saw the fireworks in the Hudson. But what was really great was, this happens every year but you never get the sense of a big overview. We're seeing every little tiny town all of along the way you saw these little fireworks displays going on. So, even in a bad economy, people out there celebrating America's birthday was great to see.
CHETRY: It is. It's wonderful, and in some cases, coming out of private citizens' pockets. They wanted to make sure that they're town had fireworks and --
ROBERTS: Little fund-raising projects going on all over. Got to do what you got to d, right, because you got to keep the Fourth of July alive.
Three minutes to the top of the hour. The top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.
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