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American Morning
Russian Spies Expelled; The King's Brand; We're Tired of Being Dumped On; LeBron James Joins Miami Heat; President Having Trouble Getting Intelligence Nominee Through Congress; CNN Hero Provides Transportation to Those In Need of Medical Assistance; Senate Death Hoaxes; A King in Miami's Court
Aired July 09, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and happy Friday. It is Friday, July the 9th. John and Kiran are off today. But we're sitting in here for you, keeping the seats warm. I'm Jim Acosta.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. I'm Kate Bolduan.
Time to wake up, everybody.
And here are this morning's top stories for you.
The new king of South Beach. LeBron James tells the world he's leaving Cleveland to play for the Miami Heat. We'll talk exclusively with one of LeBron's new teammates, NBA superstar Dwyane Wade.
ACOSTA: Moscow and Washington moving quickly to swap spies and bring an end to an embarrassing international incident. Late breaking developments -- just ahead.
BOLDUAN: Plus, 81 days into the Gulf oil disaster. Crews keep cleaning the crude and tar balls off the white sands of Gulf shore beaches. But have you ever wondered where it all goes then? We'll have that.
ACOSTA: We're going to show you.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
ACOSTA: And the Russian and U.S. planes carrying more than a dozen spies in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War took off from Vienna a short time ago.
BOLDUAN: Moscow and Washington anxious to put this uncomfortable and king of embarrassing, I would say, incident behind them, showing just how quickly governments can actually get things done when they are motivated -- pulling off a 10-4 spy swap, just like the old Cold War days.
ACOSTA: Our Susan Candiotti is here tracking the late-breaking developments.
And pretty soon, this will all be a distant memory.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And a lot of people are wondering, what about the redhead, Anna Chapman?
ACOSTA: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: What happened to her? The swap is a done deal. Russia TV reports the U.S. charter flight that carried 10 admitted Russian spies is Moscow-bound from Vienna, and in exchange, a Russian plane carrying the four Russian prisoners has taken off from Vienna, heading to freedom for them, possibly London. The Cold War-esque spy saga is just about complete.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russians admitting the first time they were, indeed, their own spies.
CANDIOTTI: Each of the 10 pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for not registering as a foreign agent. Each agreed never to return to America without permission. And if they sell their stories, proceeds must be turned over to the United States.
And several were forced to surrender cash, homes, and cars as part of their plea deal. As for popular red haired dazzler Anna Chapman, who may be the only spy with her own Facebook page, her attorney says that the harsh conditions she faced in jail had a lot to do with her guilty plea.
ROBERT BAUM, ANNA CHAPMAN'S ATTORNEY: She never met personally with any official of the Russian federation. She never passed information. She never received any money. It is not alleged that she engaged in any crime of money laundering.
She's glad to be released from jail. But she is unhappy that it probably has destroyed her business and that she has to return to Moscow.
CANDIOTTI: Meantime, Russian President Medvedev has pardoned four men convicted in jail for allegedly spy for the U.S. They're part of an arranged swap to make the case go away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What it shows is that both Moscow and Washington want to try to deal with this as quickly as possible so they can move on with improving relations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: A senior administration official says the U.S. drove the terms of the spy swap, and in court, the spies say the Russian consulate looked over the plea deals with them in jail before giving the thumbs up. The spies are in from the cold and they cannot come back to the U.S. without permission from the highest levels.
ACOSTA: Yes. They may want to check in the next time they do that.
CANDIOTTI: I think so, yes.
ACOSTA: Susan Candiotti, thanks.
Also new this morning, did you hear this? LeBron James? It's sort of been --
BOLDUAN: What?
ACOSTA: You kind of had, you know, be careful and tune in just at the right time to find out that he ended the suspense about where he's going to be playing basketball next season.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: In this fall, I will take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Miami Heat? That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning?
JAMES: That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: By the way, LeBron James tweeted this morning, "What's up, y'all, just landed in my new home. Thanks to all the fans and the Miami organization who greeted me. The road to history starts right now."
The news set off a wild celebration in Miami. We're just showing that a few seconds ago. LeBron will join his buddies Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to give the Heat a mini dream team.
Meanwhile, fans in Cleveland let loose with anger, setting their LeBron gear on fire. No, that's not the Cuyahoga River. And Cavaliers under Dan Gilbert isn't pulling any punches either. He says LeBron's departure is a, quote, "cowardly betrayal" and guarantees the Cavs will win an NBA title before LeBron does.
So -- and speaking of all of this, coming up at 8:40 Eastern, we'll talk exclusively with one of the Miami Heat's three amigos as they are calling them this morning, superstar Dwyane Wade. That's coming up.
BOLDUAN: Another sports story that everyone was watching. The Texas Rangers fan who fell from an upper deck seat Tuesday says he's very lucky to be alive. He suffered injuries to his foot and ankle along with a hairline fracture to the skull. Tyler Morris talked to reporters as he left the hospital telling them how it all went down. No pun intended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER MORRIS, RANGERS FAN WHO FELL FROM UPPER DECK: Leaned up to get it high. And at that point, I was up over the railing and went backwards over the rail. I didn't -- I lost track of where I was at, I guess, at the situation. I couldn't hold on to the rail, of course.
I didn't have a good enough grip. I started to fall. One of my firefighter friends, Brendan, was sitting in the front row with me, he tried to grab me. He couldn't -- he couldn't get ahold of me, where I fall, you know, I guess I fell. People say that I hit the electronic board that's underneath the deck there. Where I started to -- kind of do somersaults, you know, they just said that that's where I hit. I don't remember anything past that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Goodness gracious. But one good thing for Morris, he got to meet pitching legend and current Ranger president, Nolan Ryan. I'm just glad he's OK.
ACOSTA: Absolutely.
Meanwhile, pounding rains bringing flash floods to Oklahoma for the second time this week. In Oklahoma City, drenched streets turned yesterday's rush hour into an absolute nightmare. Look at this video.
State officials say a teenage girl drowned in the town of Durant near the Texas border. A flash flood watch remains in effect for 35 counties across the state this afternoon. And there's also more flooding in southern Texas and northern Mexico, what's left after tropical depression dumping up to eight inches of rain in some spots, the swollen Rio Grande River reaching nearly 30 feet above flood stage. Officials evacuated homes on both sides of the border and Texas Governor Rick Perry has activated the state's National Guard troops.
BOLDUAN: And let's get a check of extreme weather. It's been extreme all week. And that's when we go to our man Rob Marciano in Atlanta.
What's going on, man?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kate. Hey, Jim.
Yes, listen, the two spots we are seeing some heavier rain across Oklahoma and Texas, that will continue today and the heat is going to continue across parts of the south.
Take a look at these high temperatures yesterday. Records set again across the mid-Atlanti, Danville, Virginia. For the second day in the row, up on over the 100-degree mark. Savannah, 101; Charlotte, 100; Anniston, Alabama, 100; and Seattle, Washington, as well getting into the act with a record high there and temperatures will be once again very toasty across the northwest and the southeast.
In between is a very slow moving cold front and that is what spawned the heavy rain across parts of Oklahoma. Boy, has it been a wet spring and early summer for them. And then northern part of the front will begin to swing across the Northeast later on today and tonight, and that will cool things off a little bit more. And more heavy rain is expected across parts of deep Texas. And that's going to be problems coming for the Rio Grande.
Ninety-one for high in Dallas, it will be 94 in Atlanta, 91 again in Seattle, and cooling in the mid-80s -- cooling in the mid-80s across parts of New York.
More details about your weekend forecast coming up in about 30 minutes.
Jim, Kate, back to you.
ACOSTA: You know, it has been that kind of week when you are cooling into the mid-80s. I'll tell you.
BOLDUAN: All relative.
MARCIANO: All relative.
ACOSTA: Absolutely. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ACOSTA: Still ahead: while Sarah Palin sounds a rally cry and warns Washington, some strong words from President Obama against the GOP. It seems the gloves are coming off even though there's months to go before this year's midterm elections. CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is next.
It is eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: New developments in that Philadelphia boat tour accident. The Coast Guard has pulled a body from the same area of the Delaware River where the boat sank. Two people were missing since yesterday.
Also, we have a terrifying look at the moment the barge hit the duck boat. As you can see, the tiny sightseeing boat was completely dwarfed by the city barge -- 37 passengers and crew members were rescued and the NTSB is investigating. It's just a terrible story there.
BOLDUAN: We had a picture of it that didn't come up.
Also, a controversial verdict for a transit officer in California who shot and killed an unarmed man. BART officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter yesterday for shooting Oscar Grant on a train platform in 2009. Protesters hoping for a second-degree murder charge reacted to taking to the streets of downtown Oakland. People dressed in full riot gear but say the majority of protesters were not violent -- 50 people were arrested, though.
ACOSTA: Well, Sarah Palin is back out there and a new campaign-style ad. She's making big promises and putting D.C. on notice. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: We are going to turn this thing around. We're going to get our country back on the right track, no matter what it takes, to respect the will of the people.
Look out, Washington, because there's a whole stampede of pink elephants crossing the line, and the ETA, stampeding through this November 2nd, 2010. Lot of women coming together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Pink elephants, mama grizzlies. Well, Sarah Palin --
BOLDUAN: What are you talking about?
ACOSTA: Is this wild kingdom or campaign 2010? Is she just energizing her fans for the fall midterms? Or is she keeping her eye on a run for 2012?
Joining us to talk about that and all the big political headlines of the day, our chief political correspondent and the host of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley.
So, you saw the pink elephants and mama grizzlies. Candy, what is going on there?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, so much for the pit bulls with lipstick.
ACOSTA: Exactly. That was so 2008.
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Listen, I think it's both actually. I mean, one of the -- one of the things that keeps Sarah Palin so fascinating to so many people is that she does the unexpected or she does something like this. Let's face it. In some ways, no matter what she does, we're going wonder whether she's going to run in 2012.
It is -- you know, when she writes a book or when she puts something else like this, she needs that buzz. It keeps the speaking fees going and it keeps the conservative agenda out there. It keeps her options open.
So -- I mean, I think it's all three things. You know, it's for the Republican Party even. I think this is a good ad. It has warmth to it and it has -- and we talk a lot about the conservative -- this maybe the year of the conservative woman. So she's getting in on that.
So, I think it's sort of a multifaceted ad that can do her some good and the Republican Party some good.
BOLDUAN: And speaking of campaign politics, campaign season is clearly underway. Exhibit A would be President Obama yesterday talking economy and doing some fundraising, but definitely taking on the GOP. He's really framing the message, Candy, as a choice, of -- I mean, bottom line going backwards or moving forward.
Do you think this message -- is this message going to sell? Is it -- is it new?
CROWLEY: I think -- no, it's not new. It's sort of been how when there was a vote on the Hill, they talk about we tried this before. This is a policy of the past. I mean, this is as early as the first stimulus package out of the Obama administration.
I think even more specifically, what you are going to be hearing is, well, the Republicans are the party of BP and Wall Street and all the big guys, and we're for you. It's very much a -- a kind of a class warfare, if you will, a little strong. But it is very definitely this attempt at painting the Republicans as: they don't have your interest in mind.
They're for the big guys because, as you know, with the economy the way it is, and with -- all of the excesses we've seen on Wall Street and now what we've seen from BP, and allegedly, some real misconduct there in terms of not really caring about what would happen if there was an oil leak. So, you have these two kind of very big villains out there as far as voters are concerned. And that's where Democrats are doing. So, they're with (ph) the villains.
ACOSTA: Shades of Harry Truman running against the do-nothing Congress. And Michael Steele, he popped back up yesterday and seemed to respond to the controversy that he -- you know, really started with his comments about the war in Afghanistan. Let's take a listen to this clip and we'll talk about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: I ain't going anywhere. I'm here. I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: What did you think of that, Candy? What's on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday?
CROWLEY: A, I think he's not going anywhere. And if they want Michael Steele out, they're going to have to throw him out and that's pretty difficult. I think that -- you'll probably see him there. Not happening any time soon. His term is up in January. He may have a fight on his hands. We're going to have David Axelrod, as you know, one of the men closest to the president to talk about a number of things, including immigration.
And we do have, among others, Governor Richardson to talk about the immigration issue. And finally, Ken Feinberg, who, as you know, is in charge of figuring out who gets what kind of money out of that BP fund and to talk to him about how that's going.
BOLDUAN: Talking about a big job.
ACOSTA: That's going to be a great show on Sunday. Candy Crowley, thanks so much.
CROWLEY: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Join Candy this Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern for "State of the Union." That is only on CNN. And she's absolutely right. You know, we're going to talk about immigration and all in that segment. But it's -- definitely -- going to be a hot topic throughout this campaign season. It will be interesting to see what David Axelrod has to say.
BOLDUAN: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Coming straight from the White House.
Still ahead, LeBron James' new teammate, Dwyane Wade, talks about the king's decision and his own decision to play with the Miami Heat. Seventeen minutes after the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Welcome back. Christine Romans is here "Minding your Business."
ACOSTA: Minding somebody else's business.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Here's my question. If you are worth so much money, how do you know if someone ever really loves you? Think about that. You know --
BOLDUAN: I don't think I'm going to have worry --
ROMANS: 25 years old with tens of millions of dollars, incredibly talented, moving to a new city, moving to Miami --
ACOSTA: I think he'll have lots of friends.
ROMANS: I think he will, too. LeBron Inc, how much is this guy worth? Well, according to the Forbes Celebrity 100, he's number 28 on that list. We told you about that list last week. Number 28, the guy is pretty young. At the Cavaliers last years, he made $15.8 million. He has a $10 million Nike endorsement that was just renewed for $10 million annually. McDonald's is one of the more recent endorsements, that $4 million a year, folks. You know, that number, that's a year. His other endorsements are about $13 million.
He had the most earnings potential for his brand, the brand managers say at the Knicks. But his best potential, as we reported, for a championship may be in Miami. And that is the most important thing for burnishing a brand and preserving really good earnings potential going forward. So, the folks over Interbrand (ph) have actually -- they've figured out potential lifetime earnings for LeBron James as a Miami Heat player, maybe $569 million and that's not just from the pay from there.
ACOSTA: And no income tax in Florida.
ROMANS: Oh, I didn't think about that.
ACOSTA: No income tax in Florida.
ROMANS: Wow!
ACOSTA: Yes.
ROMANS: Wow. So, that endorsement --
BOLDUAN: He's smarter than we even think.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. It's big money. You know, it really is big money. When you're talking about money like that, though, geez. You know, you want the ring. Then it's other things and then it's -- who you are.
ACOSTA: The question is, is he worth it? That's what we're going to find out.
ROMANS: Yes. And this is also assuming he plays the same team until the age of 38. It assumes there's no kind of --
ACOSTA: Injury.
ROMANS: Reputational hit like our good friend, Tiger Woods, suffered who was on track to be the first billion dollar athlete according to "Forbes" until he had this major stumble this past year. It makes a lot of exemptions, but it certainly is a lot of money. So, that's LeBron Inc. Is he 24 or 25? I don't know.
ACOSTA: And we have a Romans numeral, correct? Romans numeral?
BOLDUAN: No. Actually, you don't have a Romans numeral.
ACOSTA: We have a Romans numeral.
BOLDUAN: We have a Romans numeral today. Normally, it's fired this way. I don't know. I don't know. How about the number 14, Christine?
ROMANS: Number 14. I don't know.
BOLDUAN: That would be July 14. Christine's due date. We wanted to say good luck and for everyone, we will miss you because this is likely Christine's last day with us for a little while.
ROMANS: I thought you were going to say 14, the number of children you're going have.
ACOSTA: The other Romans numeral I wanted to bring up.
ROMANS: The 14 number of brain cells I will have left.
ACOSTA: There you go. Or how about 11 as in -- ROMANS: 11?
ACOSTA: Wasn't that the --
ROMANS: I like to be --
ACOSTA: The weight of (ph) your last child.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. My first child is 11 pounds, I know.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's true. It's true. 11 pounds. Yes. The numbers are always big in my life. I don't like to be on the other end of the "Romans' Numeral." I like to be the one firing the "Romans' Numeral."
BOLDUAN: Come back to us in a couple of months. Good luck.
ROMANS: Thanks, guys.
ACOSTA: Have the best. Thank you, Christine.
ROMANS: Thanks a lot, guys.
ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, new concerns over the future of -- of President Obama's pick to lead the country's top spy office. We'll check on that at the Pentagon. That's coming up.
BOLDUAN: And we will also ask Miami Heat star, Dwyane Wade how he feels about his buddy LeBron James' big decision to join his team. Twenty-four minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back. It's day 81 of the oil disaster in the Gulf. And every day, crews are picking up oil and tar balls off the beaches along the coast. That begs the question -- where is it going after that? Our Randi Kaye is following the oily trail and found out there's a lot of people out there who don't like where it leads.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you've been wondering where all that scooped up onshore oil ends up, here's your answer. This is Mississippi's Pecan Grove Landfill. What cleanup crews gather onshore, tar balls, oil, sand, and vegetation, is hauled away and buried here. That even includes the cleanup crew's gloves, suits, shovels, and rakes, anything that's touched oil. It's one of nine landfills BP has cut deals with across the Gulf to dump all this stuff.
So, that must mean the communities are okay with it, too, right? Wrong. Connie Rockco is the president of the Board of Supervisors in Harrison County, Mississippi, where the Pecan Grove Landfill is located.
How do you feel about this oily mixture coming off the beaches and ending up in your landfill?
CONNIE ROCKCO, HARRISON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: We're tired of being dumped on. We don't want it. It's valuable landfill space. And it's hazardous to our citizens. Take your waste somewhere else or please, find an alternative.
KAYE: Rockco says the county board pass a resolution not to accept any BP waste in this community, but that didn't matter. That's because waste management, which owns the landfill, doesn't have to listen to what the county board says. It answers to the state. So, it signed a contract with BP and started dumping the oily waste right where Rockco and plenty of others feared they would.
What concerns you most about this oil and the tar balls in this whole mixture going to your land?
ROCKCO: The long-term effects that we will have to endure if it, in fact -- if, in fact, we do find that it is dangerous.
KAYE: If it gets into your water?
ROCKCO: Absolutely.
KAYE: Keeping them honest, we asked BP why it's disposing of spill waste in a county that says it pleaded with them not to. BP wouldn't comment. So, we asked waste management's, Ken Holden, to take us inside the landfill so we could see for ourselves why BP, the EPA, and waste management all say it's safe.
There are many worried that whatever is going into this landfill from the oil spill is going to end up in their water system and make the community sick.
KEN HOLDEN, WASTE MANAGEMENT: It's an understandable concern because there's a lack of awareness about what an engineered landfill is.
KAYE: Holden says this is a nonhazardous waste site. He says there won't be any liquid oil coming here, just solid oil waste. Before it's dumped, it's stored in these huge containers and analyzed. In the last 24 hours, Holden says they dropped more than 150 tons of BP waste into this landfill. 150 tons.
If the county didn't want it, why is it here?
HOLDEN: And that's something that certainly appealed to the state about and others about. And we understand that. We're going to do our utmost to be sure that they are familiar with what is going on here.
KAYE (on-camera): Holden says this landfill has a liner that runs underneath the entire site. In fact, it's under my feet where I'm walking right now. He says that liner is supposed to contain everything that's dumped here at the landfill and protect it from any leaks. He also says the groundwater and the air is monitored, and if anything goes wrong, they would know it. KAYE (voice-over): The EPA told us BP, along with the EPA, are also sampling the landfill's regularly to make sure they are safe. The agency also said it directed BP to keep its waste disposal operations, quote, "fully transparent." BP must post information about the disposal of all collected waste on their website along with any community complaints. Connie Rockco is first in line.
ROCKCO: If it's not hazardous, why would someone be out with rubber gloves and that sort of thing picking it up and taking it to the landfill?
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: It is 30 minutes after the hour. That means time for this morning's top stories, one of them being LeBron James leaving home and finding a new home. He is headed to south beach to play for the NBA's Miami Heat. LeBron will join his two buddies Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to give the Heat quite a power trio. We'll talk exclusively with D. Wade in about ten minutes.
ACOSTA: And Google will not be pulling out of China after all. The company announcing its license to operate a website has been renewed by the Chinese government. Google announced seven months ago it might stop servicing China because of censorship issues.
An update on the huge water main break in north Philadelphia we were telling you about. "The Philadelphia Enquirer" reporting crews shut it down 15 minutes ago -- good news. The paper says the water was shooting 60 feet into the air, several blocks were flooded. You can see it there, submerging cars and forcing some residents to evacuate.
ACOSTA: We have become all too aware secure is risky business -- the Russian spy ring, new suspected Al Qaeda terror plot uncovered in Norway. Now there are concerns over President Obama's pick to lead the country's top spy office. Barbara Starr joins us live from the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, this is a very real concern.
STARR: Oh, it is indeed, Jim. You know, ever since 9/11, there has been controversy about whether this country really needs a director of national intelligence. There isn't one now and there's a lot of concern about what that means.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Summertime confirmation hearings for General David Petraeus to run the war in Afghanistan and Elena Kagan to join the Supreme Court quickly planned and carried out. but there is another critical nomination out there that has been anything but.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am proud to announce my choice for the next director of national intelligence, James Clapper. STARR: It was back on June 5th that the president announced his choice for the new intelligence chief, the person in charge of overseeing 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.
OBAMA: Jim is one of our nation's most experienced and most respected intelligence officials.
STARR: But the Senate Intelligence Committee hasn't even scheduled a confirmation hearing. The last director, Dennis Blair, is long gone, the number two is scheduled to retire within weeks. For now, the intelligence community appears leaderless.
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Like any great orchestra, you need an orchestra leader, and that's what we're missing right now.
STARR: The holdup, the nomination has become a political football on Capitol Hill in a dispute over which members of Congress get notified about top secret intelligence activities.
While Congress sorts this out, CIA Director Leon Panetta's power is growing, especially in dealing with Pakistan, insiders say. He's just one player.
TOWNSEND: The single most influential person around President Obama that influences his thinking on intelligence matters is John Brennan.
STARR: Brennan, the White House's top counterterrorist official, often meets with President Obama more than once a day and has been deeply involved in dealing with Al Qaeda.
JOHN BRENNAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, HOMELAND SECURITY AND COUNTERTERRORISM: So this is a challenge that every day we have to remain on our guard. They are trying to find the vulnerability in our defenses.
STARR: Many have questioned the need to even have a DNI, but now that the job is empty there are worries about U.S. safety.
LAWRENCE KORB, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: I am very, very concerned about it, particularly at this time we are trying to figure out what's happening in Afghanistan and what's happening in Iraq, what's happening in Pakistan. What's going on with the Chinese military, the buildup.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: James Clapper is currently the top intelligence official here at the Pentagon. Consider this. He recently wrote a memo criticizing the DNI job, the job he wants now, for having too much authority and oversight over billions of dollars in Pentagon intelligence spending and the program he oversees right now. Jim, Kate?
ACOSTA: Barbara Starr, thanks so much. BOLDUAN: And up next Dwayne Wade talks about his decision to stay with the Miami Heat and about his newest teammate. You know who we are talking about. It's 34 minutes after the hour.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: This week's CNN hero is keeping critically ill patients alive on a wing and a prayer along with a full tank of gas. When pilot Kathy Bresard saw patients struggling to pay transportation costs to get the medical help that they needed, she and volunteer pilots and drivers ask decided it was time to step up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me having cancer, I couldn't believe it. There were two cancers in my head. I lost all of my hair. I was sick. I had no car. I can't work no more.
KATHY BROUSSARD, CNN HERO: When the person gets cancer, they have to deal with the stress and the financial part of it. People lose everything. They stay home and die. And that's just not acceptable.
My name is Kathy Broussard. I started the Houston Ground Angels. And we provide free air transportation and free ground transportation for medical patients coming in and out of the Houston area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have nothing like this where I live. I would have died a long time ago.
BROUSSARD: There's probably about 300 people volunteering their car, their gas, time. The volunteers, some of them have had cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I see them, they gave me hope. They stay there with us fighting. And I have been doing it.
BROUSSARD: God has bypassed me and cancer. If I can help somebody -- and I'm sorry for crying -- but if I can help somebody make their life a little better, then that's what it is all about. It is not about me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Do you know someone else who should be a CNN hero? Nominate them now. Go to CNNheroes.com. The nominations close August 1st.
It's 38 minutes after the hour. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Good morning, New York City. From what we understand it may be raining a little bit outside in the Big Apple right now. We will take it after the scorcher of a week we had.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOIST: Jim and Kate have a great weekend.
BOLDUAN: Thank you, Rob.
ACOSTA: You too Rob.
BOLDUAN: You too, we will be back right after this.
It's 15 minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: You've heard the old story, Kate, the old saying goes like this.
BOLDUAN: No.
ACOSTA: Don't believe everything that you read. That's particularly true when it comes to the Internet.
BOLDUAN: Yes, especially in this case. Despite what you may have seen online, Senators Patrick Leahy and Dianne Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison are not dead. Right, just continue with us. Fake press releases were e-mailed out this week and some news outlets updated followers on Twitter with this bogus and not funny information. Capitol -- Capitol police are now looking for answers and so is our Brianna Keilar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): United States Senator Patrick Leahy has passed away of liver cancer. That's what the news release read and it came so it seemed, from the official e-mail address of Leahy's senate office.
Rumors quickly spread over the Internet. But were just as quickly dismissed, because here's the thing; Leahy was and is very much alive. Here he was days before the e-mail went out presiding over Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings.
(on camera): Was there any sense of oh, this is just so ridiculous? Or was there a serious concern about this?
DAVID CARLE, SPOKESMAN FOR SENATOR LEAHY, (D): Well, certainly he himself took this in good spirits.
KEILAR (voice-over): David Carle is Senator Leahy's communications director. After the hoax e-mail about his boss, there were others. New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg, California's Dianne Feinstein, even the leader of the senate, Harry Reid.
CARLE: The bigger question is how could someone -- apparently so easily mimic or spoof official senate addresses?
KEILAR: We asked Ira Winkler, a cyber security expert.
(on camera): If you were to get an e-mail from me and it looks like it's coming from the e-mail address that you know to be mine, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm sending it.
IRA WINKLER, CYBERSECURITY EXPERT: No. There's a variety of different ways to what they call spoof an e-mail address. It's really easy to send out a message indicating it's from one person.
KEILAR (voice-over): What could tell you where an e-mail really originated is information embedded in it. And Winkler says investigators might be able to track the string of phony e-mails this way.
(on camera): Will the culprit be caught here?
WINKLER: I tend to think in this case the culprit might be caught. And the reason is that when somebody does something this stupid for no reason whatsoever, other than their own enjoyment or doing something else, they tend to make a lot of mistakes.
KEILAR: Capitol police are investigating the string of hoax e- mails and the Senate is adding an extra layer of cyber security so that at least internally, people can more easily recognize a phony e- mail.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: All right, coming up next, we promised in just a few moments, live picture here now of NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, new teammate for LeBron James. We're going to be talking to Dwyane Wade in just a few moments.
Stick with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: All right, perhaps you heard the news. The NBA'S king will rule in Miami. LeBron James ended weeks of speculation about his basketball future during a live TV event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER: In this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and I'm joining Miami Heat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miami Heat. That was the conclusion you woke up with this morning?
JAMES: That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Short and straightforward. The announcement triggered a big celebration in South Beach. You see it right there. You hear it right there.
James posted a message on his Twitter page overnight thanking fans and the Heat for welcoming him to his new home. LeBron James says he chose Miami because it gave him the best chance to win an NBA championship.
ACOSTA: And for that he is counting on some help from fellow stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. They know a little bit about basketball.
BOLDUAN: A little bit.
ACOSTA: Wade led the Heat to an NBA title in 2006 and in a CNN exclusive, sports exclusive, D. Wade joins us now from Miami.
Good morning to you, Mr. Wade.
DWYANE WADE, NBA PLAYER: Good morning. How are you doing?
ACOSTA: Very good. And I just want to ask you, very first question here, how soon until an NBA championship in Miami?
WADE: I wish I knew that. You know, right now --
ACOSTA: You just say next year.
WADE: We -- well, you know right now we've -- we are taking some steps to put ourselves in the position to have an opportunity with the talent of, you know, of Chris Bosh, LeBron and myself. But, you know, we still got to build our rosters. We've got a long way to go. We still have a lot of work to go to get to that point. But we have taken a huge step in that direction.
BOLDUAN: So when did you find out about LeBron's decision? And I can only imagine you are pretty excited about it.
WADE: Well, I'm very excited. I had to wake up this morning, turn on the TV and make sure that I wasn't dreaming. That everything that happened yesterday was for real.
But, you know what, this process has been going on for a long time. And -- me and LeBron are friends. I think we -- we have giggled at the fact it could be a possibility one day, you know, if we wanted to. But never thought it was that serious until -- you know, Coach Riley came out and did what he did to give us enough space we could make it happen if we all wanted to make sacrifices.
I think along that process, I let Chris and LeBron know that if this is something they want do, I'm open to it. At the same time all three guys were still individual guys and we went out and did our job of listening to these other organizations and seeing what they had to offer. Then at the end of the day it came back to what this is the best situation for us if we all talk about the same thing. That's winning. That's winning for a long time.
So I probably found out a little while before everyone else, LeBron kept it very close. But I knew that it was a strong possibility. Just didn't know it until he said it on TV.
ACOSTA: How comfortable were you with the buildup to this decision last night? I mean, there's a lot of hype around this decision. Obviously, one city came away from this extremely disappointed. Cleveland is going to be gunning for you guys next year.
I mean, does all of this put a lot of pressure on your team to deliver the goods next season? I mean, are you feeling the pressure now?
WADE: Well, I'm not feeling the pressure. I'm feeling an opportunity. I think this is an opportunity that's once in a lifetime. And -- you know, to -- to be in a position to be able to do this, you know, for myself and LeBron and Chris is something to say in itself.
This is an unbelievable sacrifice that we are all taking. I think that's been overshadowed a little bit. This is not about anything but putting ourselves in position to really win. We know that we are going to be a marked team because of the names that's on the back of the jerseys. But as I said, it is what it's going to be about for a couple of years, the name that's on the front of the jersey. Right now for all three of us, it is the Miami Heat.
So we relish the opportunity to go out there every night and have a playoff intensity game every time we go on the road with the crowd. And now, you know, getting home-court advantage in Miami. This is what you play the game of basketball for. Now we get to do it every night.
ACOSTA: Does that bother you, all of the buildup last night, I mean, because obviously you are one team. I mean, did that bug you at all? Rub you the wrong way?
WADE: No. I was excited. I mean, just like everyone else. It was like an event. You know. LeBron made last night like an event and everybody got dressed and made dinner plans and made sure they knew they were going to be there at 9:00 Eastern time, you know, for it. The buildup was what -- was exciting and a great ending to the big name of free agency.
BOLDUAN: You yourself had an opportunity to head back and play in your hometown of Chicago for the Bulls. What factored into your decision to stay? What swayed you? When did you decide?
WADE: Well, you know, just going what I was going through emotionally, to possibly go back home and play in an arena that I grew up dreaming I have always -- will play here, when I grew a business card, where my dream came true that I made it to the NBA.
I always thought that I would be running out of Chicago. Even on draft night. Getting an opportunity to now go back home and help a legacy of the organization I grew up, you know, loving and also being there with my family was something I wanted to do for a quick second, I kind of swing for a minute. I came back to reality and when Chris Bosh said that he wanted to be down here in Miami, I think that opened up the flood gates for all of us to say, you know what, that this is a time that to do something in history that hasn't been done. That's, you know, all three players, you know, of this caliber come together in their prime to do something amazing.
ACOSTA: And -- we did want to throw out a little plug here. Mention your charity, Wade's World Foundation that does a lot of great work down in Miami.
Dwyane Wade, just wanted to let you know that we are all going to be watching this coming season; all those season tickets sold-out down in Miami. There's a lot of pressure on you guys. That's what makes basketball fun.
We appreciate your joining us this morning.
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.
ACOSTA: Dwyane Wade joining us from Miami. The new three amigos, is that what we're going to call you? We three kings? Something like that.
WADE: We have to come up with something cooler than that.
ACOSTA: All right.
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much. Dwyane Wade. Thanks so much.
Continue the conversation with us on today's stories; go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
That's going to do it for us here at AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for joining us and thanks for having us.
ACOSTA: Thanks for being here with me.
BOLDUAN: Been fun.
ACOSTA: Good to see you.
BOLDUAN: Good to see you.
ACOSTA: "CNN NEWSROOM" starts now with Kyra Phillips (sic). Have a great day.
