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American Morning

Setback in the Gulf; Senate to Vote on Wall Street Reform; Apple to Discuss IPhone 4; Shahzad "Revenge" Video; Obama Not to Attend Chelsea Clinton's Wedding?; NAACP Issuing Demand to the Tea Party; FDA Recommends Avandia Stays on the Market

Aired July 15, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: And good morning. It's Thursday, July 15th. I'm Jim Acosta, in for John Roberts.

Good morning to you.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good to have you with us this morning.

ACOSTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry.

We have a lot to talk about this morning. So let's get right to it.

First, the cap that was supposed to stop the flow of oil a mile underground in the Gulf now has a leak of its own, scientists have discovered, and that has now placed plans to test the integrity of the gushing well and ultimately plug it on hold. We'll have the latest on another agonizing setback for BP in a moment.

ACOSTA: And the Senate is moving very close to passing a Wall Street reform bill with a little help from the GOP. So, who's on board and what's inside the bill as being dubbed the most sweeping reform of the financial system since the Great Depression. We're live in Washington to break it down.

CHETRY: And the gloves are off this morning. The NAACP is issuing this demand to the Tea Party:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN TODD JEALOUS, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Expel the bigots and racists in your ranks or take full responsibility for all of their actions. We will no longer allow you to hide like cowards behind signs that say "Lynch our President" or anyone else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Claims of racism now coming from both sides. Sarah Palin says she's saddened. Tea Party members say that the left is hitting the panic button. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, trying to downplay the controversy. We're going to be talking live with a Tea Party member who used to be a chapter president for the NAACP.

ACOSTA: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX. I think there's enough out there to talk about.

CHETRY: Sure is.

Another thing, unfortunately, there's a setback in the Gulf in the efforts to cap the oil leak. BP discovering a leak in the new 75- ton containment cap that it's using to try to kill the spill. That problem has now forced integrity tests on the well to be delayed.

ACOSTA: And those tests are crucial to determine whether the gushing well can hold up under extreme pressure once that cap stems the oil flow.

Our David Mattingly is live in New Orleans for us this morning.

And, David, do we know how long this problem will delay these efforts?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't, not at this hour, and everything seemed to start so well with this operation. It was very dramatic when they started the closing procedures on this cap. They immediately were able to shut off the flow of oil that was spewing out of the top of that cap. That looked very encouraging, but when they did that, BP was able to determine that they had a leak in one of the other valves that they needed to close.

We were trying to get details overnight. But this is all we could get out of BP, this from their Web site: "A leak has been detected in the choke line, and it has been isolated and will be repaired."

There was no timeline offered at how long it will take to repair this leak. We're watching the cameras down below. We see a lot of oil spewing out of what appears to be the choke line there at the bottom of the ocean. But at this point, it doesn't seem to be abated at any sense that we've watched all morning long.

Now, what this means is that everything else is on hold. They cannot proceed with these all-important pressure checks.

What they were going to do, they were going to close this top off. They were going to check the pressure of the well. And if it was going to be able to maintain a high pressure, that was going to be a good thing, because that would show that the well is intact and would be able to contain this oil.

So, this was very important that they proceed with these pressure tests. That was also going to give them very good information on how to proceed with the final capping of this well with the relief well that is now being dug. But, again, all of that on hold. Also on hold right now are all the containment procedures. Those were suspended. They were stopped -- they stopped the flow of oil up to the surface where it was being collected by the large vessels up there. That has been stopped.

So, all the oil you see coming out right now is being hit by dispersant and going up to the surface where a large number of skimmers are up there to take care of whatever oil they see hitting the surface, but at this point, all the containment, all the collection of this oil at this point is on hold until they get that new leak fixed.

CHETRY: And what if the well can't be shut? This is not the only plan in the works, right?

MATTINGLY: If it cannot be shut down, then they have procedures that they're going to have in place where they feel like they'll be able to collect most if not probably, possibly, all of the oil that has been leaking out of that well. So they have that contingency plan ready to go. All the pieces will be in place soon to collect a large, large portion of that oil.

The hope was, though, that they'd be able to make this cap work and essentially make this well hurricane-proof. With the tropical storms that come through and the hurricanes, they would have to shut down all collection operations. They're waiting to see now if that will be able to be -- happen with this cap.

CHETRY: David Mattingly for us this morning in New Orleans -- thanks.

ACOSTA: And, Kiran, parents should take note of this. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is proposing sweeping new standards for cribs. The new rules are likely to take effect next year after a final vote would ban the sale of drop-side cribs. That design is blamed for 36 deaths between November of 2007 and April of this year.

The new rules would mandate better mattress supports, sturdier hardware and better quality wood for crib construction, and those standards render most cribs in the country right now not up to code.

CHETRY: We are just hours away from an expected vote in the center of a landmark Wall Street reform bill a vote. Democrats right now are holding their breath because it looks like they do have the 60 votes needed, thanks to a little bit of help from three Republicans.

ACOSTA: Yes, just hanging by a thread.

Our Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill this morning.

Brianna, the votes are just barely there, correct?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just barely there.

And, Jim and Kiran, this is in a long time in the making. It was almost two years ago I remember being here covering the U.S. economy being on the brink of collapse, and that is what this Wall Street reform bill is supposed to be all about. And it's expected to clear. It's really its last hurdle today with this vote in the Senate. And we understand Democrats do have 60 votes with, as you said, a little help from some Republicans.

So what is in this Wall Street reform bill?

Well, some of the main points include a consumer protection agency. This would be created to stop unfair practices in things like, when you get a loan or when you have a credit card.

One of the other items, it regulates derivatives. Remember, the complex financial products that when they flopped, really, that's what brought down Lehman Brothers. That's what threatened to bring down AIG, if the government hadn't intervened. So, those would be more regulated.

And also, it allows the government the ability to wind down a big financial firm, one of these too-big-to-fail firms, if it does have issues -- much the way the government does with banks.

And what we're expecting, Jim and Kiran, is that this will pass today. Democrats say they have the 60 votes. Senators have come out and said, "Yes, I'm supporting it," and right now, the count is at 60, and we're expecting this would go to President Obama to sign next week, guys.

ACOSTA: And why the partisan divide? I mean, you know, this is -- this is going to be another partisan vote for the Democrats, for the president, with the exception of those few Republicans that you mentioned. If they didn't have Scott Brown, this thing would be a goner?

KEILAR: No. And one of the other issues for Democrats is they don't have right now a replacement for Senator Byrd of West Virginia who had passed away. But you have is one Democrat who's voting against it, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, saying, "You know what? It doesn't do enough. So, I can't vote for it."

And then you do have, yes, three Republicans, including the two senators from Maine and Senator Brown from Massachusetts who are voting for it.

But, by and large, Republicans are saying, you know what, this is overreaching. It goes too far. You're entrusting too much responsibility to these federal regulators that missed the ball last time and then you have Democrats saying, no, we're giving them the tools to make sure the economic crisis like the one we saw in the fall of 2008 doesn't happen again.

ACOSTA: It's amazing -- as you said, Brianna, how far we've come since those very dark and gloomy days in 2008.

Brianna Keilar live on the hill for us this morning -- thank you, Brianna. CHETRY: Also, former Vice President Dick Cheney is now on the mend this morning. He's at a Virginia hospital after getting heart surgery. Doctors last week implanted a tiny pump in his heart to help it function better. Cheney says it will allow him to resume an active life. He's had five heart attacks since 1978 -- the most recent one in February.

ACOSTA: And here is one for the water cooler this morning, Billy the Kid, the legendary outlaw, may finally get a pardon. It's a little late. About 129 years after his death, the new report says New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson could do it before he leaves office.

Billy the Kid was offered a pardoned by New Mexico's territorial governor in 1881, in exchange for his cooperation, but the governor reneged on the deal. How dare he do that to Billy the Kid?

CHETRY: Nine minutes past the hour right now. Rob Marciano is keeping track of the weather for us this morning. Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, guys. Not to be confused with Billy Kidd, legendary ski racer out of Steamboat, Colorado.

The thunderstorms across parts of the Midwest again today and we had rough weather yesterday that came through Wisconsin. Ten reports of tornadoes. We will see severe weather today. I'm not sure if it will be quite as traumatic as what we saw yesterday, but along that cold front is where you'll see those storms fire up and we're seeing them across Lake Michigan and down across, say, Kansas and in through parts of Oklahoma.

The heat will be the other big story as we see these thunderstorms roll across the western Great Lakes. Some of these are coming with some pretty heavy rain. Milwaukee, Wisconsin right now are getting hit pretty hard.

Heat advisories, watches or warnings in 18 states -- stretching all the way from Philadelphia back through Los Angeles. And in between will be the hottest area, 105 to 115-degree heat indices. That's what it will feel like if you are outside.

Ninety-nine is the expected high temperature in Dallas, 114 in Phoenix, 92 in Los Angeles. That is definitely warming up compared to what they've seen of late. Ninety-five in D.C. And that heat will be building across, into the New York City metropolitan area come tomorrow and Saturday.

Jim, Kiran, back to you.

ACOSTA: And, Rob, the line in the next read for us talks about calling all space geeks. So, we thought we'd keep you here in the shot if that's OK. We only say that in the nicest possible way.

MARCIANO: Well, listen, I stand proud to be one of -- I'm a geek of many facets.

ACOSTA: Exactly. Well, check this out. (CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Exactly. One's in central Florida -- pay attention to this -- you have a great opportunity to see the International Space Station pass overhead tonight. NASA look up at 9:27 Eastern and if the weather's clear and Rob will be able to tell us this, you'll be able to wave at the six astronaut crew, 225,000 miles above the earth.

CHETRY: And you need a strong telescope to know if they're waving back.

The ISS will approach from north-northwest, take a two-minute pass to the east-southeast.

So, what's it like, Rob? Will you be able to see it out there in central Florida?

MARCIANO: Well, it should be clear for the most part clear. But a lot of humidity this time of year, so that makes anything in space a little bit murky. Might I point out and suggest, d not wear the sunglasses if you're going to --

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Exactly. It might be a little hard at 9:27. Unless you're trying to be cool.

ACOSTA: Especially ones that fashionable.

MARCIANO: Slick graphic. Nice work, guys.

ACOSTA: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Our crack staff. They worked all night on that one.

CHETRY: And Rob loved it. Thanks, Rob.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob.

CHETRY: Well, still ahead, we're talking about the controversial diabetes drug Avandia. The FDA panel recommended it stays on the market but with some stepped up warnings. So, if you were taking this drug for diabetes, what should you do?

ACOSTA: And you're going to want to watch this. This is just a heartbreaking story. We're telling you about the sea turtles and the plight of the pelicans out on the Gulf, but what about the beloved pets now homeless along the Gulf Coast? That's right -- dogs and cats, you know, those out-of-work owners down there can't afford to keep them. So, how can you help? Our Randi Kaye has that story coming up in a few minutes.

Stick with us. Look at that face.

(MUSIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

CHETRY: Well, if this doesn't make you cry, you don't have a heart.

ACOSTA: I'm telling you.

Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We've seen the heartbreaking images of pelicans and turtles in the Gulf, covered in crude and choking for air where this morning, there are many new victims of the oil spill.

CHETRY: Yes. This is something I don't know if many expected would happen, but now, hundreds of pets in Louisiana are being abandoned by their owners. They don't want to do this.

ACOSTA: This happened after Katrina, too.

CHETRY: It did happen after Katrina, in some cases, because the pet owners died. But in this case, it's -- unfortunately, they can't afford to keep them. Some people try to give them to relatives but can't afford them either. And as Randi Kaye reports, local shelters are saying they're swamped.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This 9-month-old sheepdog mix has never seen a drop of oil, never even come close. Yet she's homeless because of the spill. Sheba is one of hundreds of dogs and cats now living in Louisiana animal shelters. Their owners, mainly fishermen and others in the industry, are out of work and can no longer afford to care for them. They have a choice -- food on the table or the family pet.

ANA ZORILLA, LOUISIANA SPCA: Not only is this a -- a coastal disaster, you know, it is an animal disaster on so many levels.

KAYE: Ana Zorilla is with the Louisiana SPCA.

I think when people think of animals being affected by the oil spill, they think of the oiled birds and the oiled turtles. They don't think of the family pet.

ZORILLA: Exactly. I think these are the unseen victims right now in this disaster.

KAYE: Unseen no longer. Their faces, irresistible. Their eyes, pleading. Their soft whimpers heartbreaking, and they just keep coming. So many dogs and cats, shelters are turning to foster homes to house them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

KAYE: Ana says the SPCA is even sending some pets to shelters in other states. There just aren't enough cages in Louisiana.

KAYE (on-camera): In June of last year at one shelter in St. Bernard Parish, 17 dogs were turned in by their owners. This past June, after the spill at that very same shelter, 127 dogs were turned in by their owners. That's 110 more dogs this year than last year. And the SPCA says it is definitely a result of the spill. If you look at this dog right here, this is Champ. Take a look at his paperwork. It says he was surrendered, owner incapable of caring for it.

KAYE (voice-over): Same story for this little pup. Her name is Panda. She's a terrier mix and just about two months old. She was turned in after the spill.

You want a hug. That's all you want. A much-needed hug.

Because pets can help reduce stress, Ana says giving them up now makes it harder for families already struggling.

How tough do you think the decision is for a family to have to give up a pet when they're facing, really, the end of their livelihood in many cases?

ZORILLA: I think it's one more blow on top of everything else. Imagine having to make that decision of letting a family member go, because you can no longer afford to keep them? It isn't that you don't love them. It isn't that you don't want them, you just don't have the financial resources, you know, to keep them.

KAYE: The SPCA just launched a program this week to help owners hold on to their pets using donations it's providing pet food and neutering to anyone from the fishing industry. But the SPCA doesn't have enough money to help every pet owner. Ana says BP should pay.

ZORILLA: I would love to see that BP provide some kind of support, whether it's, you know, helping fund dog food, cat food, veterinary care, whatever's needed so that these sweet, little dogs and cats don't go to shelters.

KAYE: Too many who do end up here may never get a second chance. This is not one of those no-kill shelters. If these pets don't find a family within the next two or three weeks, they'll be euthanized, killed, even though oil never touched them.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: There has to be something.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: That you can do to help.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETRY: And we'd like to try to facilitate that if we can. If you'd like to help out the Louisiana Shelters or adopt perhaps one of these animals, they do need assistance. You can go to la-spca.org to make a donation. For more information on how you can assist as well, you can visit our blog, CNN.com/AMFix.

ACOSTA: And after watching that story, I don't know how people could not want to reach out to help. So -- we're coming up soon, in just a few moments, is there an app for the problems over at Apple right now? Apple addressing some major issues with their iPhone that's coming up tomorrow. Will Apple fight back or an issue in iPhone recall? That's story coming up in just a few moments. It's 19 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's probably the most sought- after telephone right now. We're talking about the iPhone 4. An Apple on the verge of breaking its silence on the spotty reception issue that's been threatening to take the shine off its rock star reputation.

ACOSTA: The company will hold a news conference tomorrow about complaints of dropped calls. You may have heard about this. When you hold the new iPhone 4 a certain way, there have been problems. Earlier, we spoke to CNN.com technology writer, John Sutter, about what we can expect tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SUTTER, TECHNOLOGY WRITER, CNN.COM: There's a lot of speculation that they could put sort of a coating on the metal ring around the phone, on the antenna, that would fix this for future rollouts like you mentioned. There is a lot of talk about the so- called bumper which is a case for the iPhone 4. They run about $30. Apple does sell them. So, some people are very skeptical of that. They could give those out for free. There number of petitions online calling for them to do that.

That would be a much cheaper option. There are some analysts saying it would cost them about $1 a pop. So, $1 per each one of these cases to give these out to consumers for free. But like you mentioned, if you have a $300 phone, you know, you expect it to be able to make calls and sort of saying that you need to put duct tape on it or you need to buy a case for it. You know, it's a hit to Apple's image, I think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Kiran, you had a way of holding the phone that may address the problem?

CHETRY: Oh yes, I mean, you know, if you're very careful when you're calling, you should have no problems at all.

ACOSTA: Why would that -- that should be no problem.

CHETRY: Exactly. I mean, hello?

ACOSTA: But you got one of those covered which has been help (ph).

CHETRY: Yes, but I don't have iPhone for it or so.

ACOSTA: There you go. I'm sorry to hear that.

CHETRY: I've the old (INAUDIBLE).

ACOSTA: You may remember earlier this month, Apple said it was a software glitch that made the iPhone display more bars than it should, so -- but I think your approach is even better.

CHETRY: We'll find out today whether they actually should recall, whether they start giving out the free covers or tell you, get out the duct tape.

ACOSTA: Or free phone. And I don't have one, so I'll take a free phone.

CHETRY: All right. Still ahead, failed Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, made a video vowing revenge before the botched attempt to set off a car bomb in Times Square. Our Reza Sayah is going to be joining us with more on what he said in this tape.

ACOSTA: And we're going to have more on that battle that's erupting between the NAACP and tea party over racism claim. Member of the tea party movement and a former NAACP chapter president Reverend C.L. Bryant is coming up. So, an interesting cross-section there in this guest. You want to stick around for that. Twenty-four minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And a developing story right now. Chilling new evidence that confessed Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was trained by the Taliban and was ready to die for the cause.

CHETRY: There's a videotape reportedly showing Shahzad before the Times Square bombing attempt saying it would be a quote, "revenge attack" carried out in the name of quote, "all Muslim and Arabs who have died as martyrs." Our Reza Sayah is following developments for us live from Islamabad. Tell us more about this tape.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran. This videotape message really gives you an idea what Faisal Shahzad was thinking before he tried to bomb New York's Times Square. It's another piece of evidence. It shows that, indeed, there was a connection between Shahzad (ph) and the Pakistani Taliban. In the video, you see Shahzad sitting with a turban on next to an AK-47. He's reading from the Koran.

In his message, he talks about the importance of jihad, and he says this attack is revenge for the deaths of all Muslim soldiers including the Pakistani Taliban leader, the late Baitullah Mehsud, and the former head of al Qaeda in Iraq, the late Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Here's some of what Shahzad said in the videotape message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAISAL SHAHZAD, FAILED TIMES SQUARE BOMBER: This attack on United States will also be a revenge attack for all the mujahideen and the Muhajirin and the weak and oppress people of Muslims. For example Baitullah Amir shaheed as well as the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and all the Muslim Arab that have been martyred, I would take revenge on their behalf, inshallah, and I really wish that the hearts of the Muslim will be pleased with this attack and inshallah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: It's not exactly clear when and where this video message was shot, but if you look at the videotape message, on the upper right-hand corner, you see a logo that reads Umar media. This is the same logo that the Pakistani Taliban uses when they release videotape messages -- Kiran, Jim.

ACOSTA: And so, Reza, does this pretty much take away any of those doubts out there as to whether or not Shahzad was linked to the Pakistani Taliban?

SAYAH: Yes, I think with this videotape, there is no doubt that there was some connection, but it's still unclear what exactly that connection was, and I think that's very important to figure out what that connection was. When you try to figure out why this attack happened and what it all means, it's still unclear whether this was an attack plotted by the Pakistani Taliban, and they went out and recruited Faisal Shahzad. If that is, indeed, the case, this is the watershed moment.

This means for the first time, the Pakistani Taliban have extended their reach beyond this region to U.S. soil. But if this was Faisal Shahzad's idea, and he went out and sought out the Taliban, this is a whole different set of bombs for Washington. Now, you're talking about home-grown terrorism. So, this videotape message doesn't leave any doubt that there is a connection between Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban, but still unclear exactly what that connection is.

ACOSTA: At least we have more clues in that videotape, and it was excellent of you to point that out. Reza Sayah live in Islamabad for us this morning. Thanks, Reza.

CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories.

BP's new containment cap is leaking. The problem developed early this morning and will have to be fixed before they can start testing on the gushing well, moving forward to see whether or not there is pressure is exactly the way it's supposed to be. The tests have been suspended and they're crucial to determining whether or not the well can hold up under that pressure once the cap stems the oil flow.

ACOSTA: This may have been tense. President Obama met with House Democrats after Press Secretary Robert Gibbs ruffled a few feathers suggesting his party could lose the house this fall. We're told last night's meeting focused on future economic policies and not pass comments by Gibbs, who, by the way, tried to clarify his mid-term predictions yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think we'll retain them. I was asked if there are enough seats in play. I think there are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: President Obama will no doubt hit the campaign trail to keep those seats in the Democrats' column, but there are some new poll numbers suggesting that he, perhaps, needs to look out for himself as well. According to a new "Time" magazine polling, just 49 percent of Americans approve of the president's job performance.

Yesterday our Ed Henry asked the press secretary Robert Gibbs if the president's fading poll number are a concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIBBS: I think there is a --

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So do you think the president is losing particularly Americans and independent voters particularly won in 2008? You're not worried they're losing faith in the president?

GIBBS: Again I think they are frustrated at the pace of our economic recovery. The president is frustrated about this. I do think, we've talked about this, I do think in an election we'll have a choice.

I do think one of the things that the poll probably doesn't measure, and I don't think was intended to measure, was necessarily forcing the choice between what got us here and what is getting us out. But I think that's exactly what -- exactly the type of choice that we'll have come November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: When it comes to the economy, "Time" magazine polling found 80 percent of people believe that it's stable or headed in the right direction.

ACOSTA: And speaking of the economy, just in to CNN, the labor department releasing its weekly jobless report, and it shows the number of people filing new claims for unemployment fell last to 429,000.

CHETRY: CNN.com's Poppy Harlow join us live now. So you're talking about a decrease of about 29,000 from last week's revised figure. What does it tell us? POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's good the number fell. An awful reading for two year. Since July 2008, we have seen every week more than 400,000 Americans have lined up for those first-time unemployment claims. Fighting folks in Washington continues. Do we extend claims so that more people can get the maximum amount of claims?

In this country, you can get up to 99 week, almost two years of unemployment benefits, so Washington is fighting whether or not we can afford it.

Meantime, 14.6 million Americans are out of work. That's an astonishingly high number. Almost half of them have been out of work for six months or more. You look at that, and get this -- 1 million people by the end of this year will have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. We talked to some of them here in New York. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time I go on an interview, it's always same old story. Don't call us. We'll call you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had unemployment insurance to help me so far, and pretty much exhausted two extensions. My benefits ended, like, about almost a month ago. I've been living off my savings. That scares me a lot, you know, that I won't have anything in the next couple of months in my savings. That really has me worried.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Can you imagine being in that situation? That's the reality for millions of people in this country. So the White House is being pressed. Where are the jobs, all of that stimulus money to create jobs?

Well, look at what the White House says -- three million jobs, they say, have been save or created so far, big announcement on that just yesterday. They say, look, by the end of the year, 3.5 million jobs will be saved or created by the end of the year.

But the reality is 14.5 million Americans don't have work. There are harsh critics, as both of you know, saying look, all of this spending hasn't brought down the unemployment rate. It's going to take 100,000 jobs added every month to stabilize that rate, a lot more just to bring that unemployment rate down. That hasn't been happening at all in this situation.

CHETRY: We talk about the fight over extending unemployment benefits and the sheer number of long-term unemployed, people who have exhausted what they've had so far. Is there aid out there for people who simply can't find work?

HARLOW: Once they max out at 99 weeks there is not even talk in Washington right now about extending benefits beyond two years. There's something called temporary assistance for needy family or TANF. This is a program from cash grants to subsidized housing and jobs. They got $5 billion as part of the stimulus.

That money runs out September 30th, and the debate in Washington, you can both guess, do we have the money, pretty much to cut down party line. We have a lot of Republicans saying how will we pay for this? Democrats saying, we need to pay for it. So it's a harsh reality for a lot of folks.

ACOSTA: And you could sense the desperation from the sound bites from those folks in the unemployment line. Poppy Harlow, thanks for your time this morning.

Coming up in just a few moment, the battle erupting between the NAACP and tea party over racism claim. A member of the tea party movement and former NAACP chapter president reverend C.L. Bryant, he is coming up in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back. It's 39 minutes past the hour now.

Members of the tea party are fighting back after the head the NAACP demanded that they denounce the racist members of their movement. An ever-growing list of political heavy hitters are now weighing in.

ACOSTA: Sarah Palin and Michael Steele, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on both sides of this issue. But our next guest has an extremely unique perspective on this fight. Reverend C.L. Bryant is a neb of the tea party who also happened to be a chapter president for the NAACP. And we welcome reverend Bryant to the program this morning. Thanks for joining us.

REV. C.L. BRYANT, FORMER NAACP CHAPTER PRESIDENT: Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for having me on.

ACOSTA: What did you make, when you heard the NAACP come out with this very, very strongly worded assault on the tea party? I mean, this must have caught your attention?

BRYANT: It was somewhat sad, because throughout its history the NAACP has worked for the advancement of people of color. And finally we have a president who has transcended color, and he has become the leader of the free world. But yet we want to attach these types of things to him, and apparently we want him to govern as a black president.

Well, the true advancement of our people in this country has to be directly linked to the fact that we have overcome certain obstacles and we have become a very diverse group of people in this country with many different interests.

ACOSTA: And reverend, have you been to any tea party rallies yourself? And have you witnessed any of this behavior?

BRYANT: Well, certainly. You mean -- what type of behavior are you talking about? ACOSTA: Well, any racist behavior, behavior that the NAACP is talking about?

BRYANT: No. There is no racist behavior from people who are associated with the tea party. There are certain people on the fringe, as you know, that will infiltrate these types of things. Every sign that you have seen that is derogatory has been denounced already by organizers and leaders of this movement.

CHETRY: I want to ask you question about what you said, because when Jim asked you what you made of the strongly worded statement from the NAACP regarding the tea party you brought in the president. What is criticism of the tea party have to do with President Obama?

BRYANT: Evidently the signs that they are saying cast dispersions upon him are directly related to him, and so I think that the whole idea of color and race in the left, from the left, has direct implications to the president.

The tea party is not against the president because she a black president. He has to toe the line of every other president that held the office, and that is to be the leader of the free world.

ACOSTA: Reverend Bryant, as you're speaking, we're showing video of what is apparently some fairly racist behavior going on at tea party rallies. I've been to tea party rallies myself, I've covered them. You do see some of this going on.

And you're saying this is coming from the fringe of this movement. So what should the leaders of this movement do? What should they say to folks who come to these rallies with that kind of stuff going on?

BRYANT: No. You misquoted me. There is no fringe of this movement that brings those type of things to the rallies. And I must say this --

(CROSSTALK)

BRYANT: The same type of people, the same type of people who spout murderous comments about killing white people, those types of people. I'm sure the NAACP would not embrace those types of people into their organization. Nor do we embrace those types of people on the other side into our movement either.

CHETRY: I want to get your comment about what the spokesman for the tea party express, one large group in the tea party movement, Mark Williams, said regarding the NAACP, accusing them actually of racism. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: The NAACP is a bunch of old dusty relics trying to be relevant in the 21st century, and they make money off of race baiting. That's plain and simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Do you believe the sentiments of that characterization, that the NAACP is making an issue about race as related to the tea party where there is none?

BRYANT: Historically that has not been the case. But what you're hearing from the organization now is an echo of the left. And unfortunately, a venerable organization such as the NAACP is being denigrated to a pawn of left-wing politics in this country.

And it's a shame that that is occurring, because they have been the stalwart and the backbone of progress for people of color in this country, and now it apparently has been hijacked by leftist ideology.

ACOSTA: Reverend Bryant, we knew you would have a unique perspective on this controversy. We appreciate your time joining us. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

BRYANT: Thank you for having me.

CHETRY: Thanks, reverend.

Well, 45 minutes past the hour right now. And it's certainly going to be a hot one out there today. Uncomfortable mugginess as well and some storms could crop up.

Rob Marciano is keeping track of your forecast, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's Jim's favorite song?

ACOSTA: OK, why do I have to talk about -- the weather after the Miley Cyrus song?

It is 78 degrees right now in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a party in the GA, too.

CHETRY: That's right.

ACOSTA: And it's going to be a high of 93 degrees later today. So --

CHETRY: Yes and hopefully they have air-conditioning at this party.

Our Rob Marciano is following all of it for us. It's going to be muggy out there.

ACOSTA: Way down in the south from the Chattahoochee.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right or in the ATL as we like to say, the hip-hop cradle that it is.

Good morning guys, heat, yes across much to the southeast, the northeast, to the southwest, the central south, the plains. Everybody gets -- starting to bake just a little bit and where it's -- where it's not been hot it certainly has been rather wet. And that's been the main concern here the past day or two with heat building and thunderstorms rolling.

We had totals for -- rain totals, 4.22 in Mount Holly; Wilmington in North Carolina, three and a half; if you're going into Tomahawk, Wisconsin, they had some tremendous amount of rain as well along with some thunderstorms that produced some tornados yesterday.

Meanwhile, the heat and heat indices or what it going to -- what it feels like if you're outside, anywhere from 100 to 115. You'll notice it's kind of starting to build off towards the north and east. So we're starting to stretch this heat wave out just a little bit, being pushed along a little bit by this northern cold front that's trying making inroads east but only the extreme northern part of it will be able to do that.

Heat advisories out for not only at the Central Park, the northeast and also the southwest including southern California where temperatures are going up to over 100 degrees.

Speaking of, you may be going to the beach to cool off. San Diego yesterday or just outside of San Diego, La Jolla shores, near Torrey Pines, dozens of people injured by sting rays in the surf. Yes. I mean, come on. Yesterday we talked about great whites out in Cape Cod, they weren't hurting anybody. But sting ray down across southern California, well, yes, break out in a rash. That looks painful.

And hopefully that sting ray scare will abate today, because I think a lot of people will be heading into the water to try to cool off.

If you're heading by plane: Boston, New York, Philly, you might see some delays there; Chicago, Detroit and Denver also.

Never been stung by a sting ray? They are cool looking creatures but those sea creatures are starting to make everybody nervous, East Coast and West Coast.

And now that we're heat -- in the heat of summer that's where people are going to cool off at the beach. So just be careful out there.

CHETRY: Things -- there were jellyfish all over the place. Now you got to worry about the sting rays.

ACOSTA: Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.

MARCIANO: Exactly, there is no safe place.

CHETRY: Poor seal. All right, thanks, Rob.

ACOSTA: Thanks Rob.

MARCIANO: See you guys.

CHETRY: Hey there's been a -- a stunning discovery made -- of excavation crews. Now, this isn't the chicken and the egg thing. Don't worry.

ACOSTA: Oh thank God.

CHETRY: This is excavation crews at the World Trade Center site, found a 32-foot long hull of a ship.

ACOSTA: Wow.

CHETRY: They unearthed the ship, you see it right there. This is a new overhead aerial video from a helicopter. Archeologists say they believe it was buried there in the 18th century but it was probably used along with other debris to actually extend the lower Manhattan, you know built it.

ACOSTA: They build it out.

CHETRY: Into the Hudson River, timber samples from the hull are now being sent to laboratories to find out more about where the ship came from and perhaps how old it was.

ACOSTA: That's incredible. What a great find.

CHETRY: And amazing.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

Ok, well, it's 51 minutes after the hour. We're almost out of here. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Now just in to CNN on the battle to stop the oil leak in the Gulf.

Our David Mattingly is live in New Orleans. What's the latest, David?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, I just listened in to a technical briefing from BP. They say they are now back on track. They were able to remove that leaking choke line, bring it up to the surface and bring down another piece of equipment and replace it. Now they are back on track.

They are going to resume their processes where they're going to close up that cap so that they can begin those pressure testing; the testing of the integrity of the well. They hope to have that going by later this afternoon.

So this is all good news after an evening of trying to repair this. They have got everything back in place.

Now there are just some procedures to go through. They have to test some seals. They have to get the ROVs in place. And then they're going to get everything back and rolling about the middle the afternoon probably setting them back about 24 hours but then going ahead with the tests. And another thing, we learned that as they were able to remove this leaking device, they were also able to restore the collection system that was going on, on the surface. So all of that oil that was being capped by the well was not leaking into the Gulf of Mexico; that oil was continuing to go up to the Q4000 and the Helix Producer as it had been.

So again, all of this good news; not as much oil leaking out as there could have been. Also that they are now back on track to resume with these all-important pressure tests to determine if they can cap that well -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. David Mattingly for us with an update this morning. Thank you.

It's 55 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: And finally, a group of British scientists claim they've discovered the definitive answer to the question, and this is a question that I'm sure a lot of you folks out there have a problem with all the time. Which came first -- the chicken or the egg? Well, it turns out, it's the chicken.

CHETRY: That's what the scientists say. Researchers at Sheffield and Warwick University say they have isolated a protein that's found only in a chicken's ovaries that is vital for the formation of an egg. Therefore, the study concludes that an egg can only exist if it is first created inside of the pre-existing chicken.

ACOSTA: And I have to be honest that this -- none of this made sense to me the first time around. And we've been told by our producers not to do a science lesson on this, but can you explain this to me?

CHETRY: The chicken was created -- and it created eggs, according to these scientists. That's all I've got to say about that.

ACOSTA: I think simplicity works in this case. We'll go with that.

CHETRY: In this case it does.

ACOSTA: the chicken before the egg. All right very good. It's been solved. Case closed.

CHETRY: If you have your own theory, go to our Web site. We'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, this is it for us today, but we'll be here -- right back here tomorrow for Friday.

ACOSTA: That's right. And "CNN NEWSROOM" with Don Lemon starts right now.