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American Morning
Whole Tape, Whole Truth: USDA to Reconsider Case of Shirley Sherrod Over Race Remarks; Unemployment on Verge of Extension; Spotting Slicks from Above; Tea Party's On; "Keeping the Promise to Our Children"
Aired July 21, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this Wednesday, the 21st of July. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
An update for you on a story that we first brought you yesterday. The whole tape and the whole truth. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack now saying he will take another look at the facts surrounding the decision to get rid of department official Shirley Sherrod, a woman who lost her job over comments that sounded racist. The NAACP saying it was snookered at first but has now heard the whole tape.
ROBERTS: It's capped but is it stable? BP's ruptured well now leaking oil in five places raising concerns that it might buckle under the pressure. And just to makes things a little more nerve-racking today, a storm may be headed into the Gulf of Mexico. We'll take you live to the coast where they're having a bit of a white knuckle morning.
CHETRY: The Senate clears the way for unemployment checks to resume. It's welcome news for the millions of Americans whose benefits have been running out. President Obama praising the extension, but is it really good for the economy and the unemployed?
ROBERTS: And the amFIX blog is up and running as it is every day. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: First though, a stunning twist in a story that's once again brought the sensitive state of race and politics to the surface in this country. It now sounds like Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod could get her job back. And it was just 24 hours ago when we first gave her the chance to defend herself right here on this show. Many were branding her a racist after a conservative Web site released unedited tape of comments that she made back in March.
ROBERTS: Comments that sounded bigoted when taken out of context, comments that cost her her job, comments that cost her her reputation. But now the whole tape is out, the whole story is out, and so is the whole truth. CNN's Joe Johns has the whole story for us.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, this is a story about race and politics and America's history in the south. A story of the personal journey of Shirley Sherrod, a top-ranking Agriculture Department official in the state of Georgia who gave a speech to the NAACP a few months back, made some personal disclosures about whether she was going to help a white farmer who came to her for help decades ago.
Excerpts of the speech got posted on a conservative Web site. The whole thing went viral. Before you know it, Shirley Sherrod's boss, the agriculture secretary, had asked for her resignation. Sherrod's tale is that the excerpt of the tape was taken out of context, that she's not a racist and that she treated the white farmer in her story fairly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FORMER GEORGIA DIRECTOR, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: I did not discriminate against him, and in fact I went all out. I had to -- I had to frantically look for a lawyer at the last minute because the first lawyer we went to was not doing anything to really help him. In fact, that lawyer suggested they should just let the farm go.
All of that process -- that's why I tell it, because everything that happened in dealing with him -- he was the first white farmer who had come to me for help. Everything that I did working with him helped me to see that it wasn't about race. It's about those who have and those who don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: As it turns out, the farmer and his wife, Roger and Eloise Spooner, are on Sherrod's side and became good friends with her telling CNN Shirley Sherrod was just like she said she was, a big help to them when they were in financial trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELOISE SPOONER, GEORGIA FARMER: She put us in touch with the lawyer that knew what to do, and he helped us save our farm.
ROGER SPOONER, GEORGIA FARMER: She went with us. She went with us in our car. She asked us did we want her to go. And we definitely wanted her to go. And I don't know what brought up the race issue in this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: And perhaps the thing that added gasoline to the fire in this case was Sherrod's assertion that the White House run by, of course, the first black president, was somehow involved in asking for her resignation. And it's pretty evident that this case could become a political problem for the Democrats in an election year if someone had not acted decisively to try to put it to rest. When the Department of Agriculture called her for her resignation, she says they told her the White House itself wanted it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERROD: They asked me to resign. And in fact, they harassed me as I was driving back to the state office from West Point, Georgia yesterday. I had at least three calls telling me the White House wanted me to resign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, however, told us that just wasn't the case, that it didn't matter whether Shirley Sherrod felt she'd been taken out of context. What mattered was what she was captured on videotape saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM VILSACK, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: I didn't speak to anybody at the White House. When I saw the statements and the context of the statements, I determined that it would make it difficult for her to do her job as a real development director and that it would potentially compromise our capacity to close the chapter on civil rights cases.
I didn't want anything to jeopardize her job in terms of getting the job done and getting people to work in Georgia. And I certainly didn't want us to have a controversy making it more difficult to turn the page. So I made this decision, it's my decision. Nobody from the White House contacted me about this at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: And in fact, last night, a White House official confirmed to CNN that after Vilsack made his decision Monday, President Obama was briefed on it, fully supported the secretary's demand for Sherrod's resignation. So here we have another story about how unforgiving Washington can be to political officeholders and appointees who make personal disclosures that get blown out of proportion.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
CHETRY: Well, again, a new development overnight. Secretary Vilsack is now saying he'll take another look at the facts surrounding the department's decision to drop Shirley Sherrod after learning more about what she said. Also, Sherrod herself releasing a statement overnight saying among other things, "They finally realized it. This is what I've been asking for, this entire time."
Now, the department wasn't the only one quick to react. The NAACP, of course, also apologized to Sherrod. In a statement released yesterday, President Ben Jealous said, "With regard to the initial media coverage of the resignation of USDA official Shirley Sherrod, we have come to the conclusion we were, quote, 'snookered' by FOX News and Tea Party activist Andrew Breitbart into believing that she had harmed white farmers because of racial bias." ROBERTS: Jealous goes on to say in the statement, "Having reviewed the full tape, spoken to Miss Sherrod, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans. Next time we are confronted by a racial controversy broken by FOX News or their allies in the Tea Party, like Mr. Breitbart, we will consider the source and be more deliberate in responding."
CHETRY: And Ben Jealous also tried to explain his actions initially last night on "AC 360" as well. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN JEALOUS, NAACP PRESIDENT: In this line of work where we're called to respond to video evidence all the time, make very quick judgments, we made a quick set of calls. It was late at night. As you may recall, our statement came out at 1:00 a.m. That we were dealing with this, we woke up some people in Georgia. We tried to figure out what was going on. We looked at it and we said, you know what? There's just no way to condone this. What we didn't realize is it had been spliced and diced six ways from Sunday so as to completely hide this beautiful story of transformation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Last night, Andrew Breitbart, who first posted the edited tape told John King that releasing the video was not about Shirley Sherrod.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BREITBART, TEA PARTY ACTIVIST: This is Shirley Sherrod trying to save her job when her problem is with Vilsack and the USDA and NAACP, both which have rebuked her and forced her to leave her position.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think she has legitimate questions, as do we. For Secretary Vilsack, the NAACP, the Agriculture Department, and perhaps even the Obama White House. But did you reach out to her when you posted this to ask her, I have this tape, I think it shows what you believe to be damning conduct or questionable conduct? Did you reach out to her and say what is it that you're talking about? When this did it happen?
BREITBART: This was not about Shirley Sherrod. This was about the NAACP attacking the Tea Party, and this is showing racism at an NAACP event. I did not ask for Shirley Sherrod to be fired. I did not ask for any repercussions for Shirley Sherrod. They were the ones that took the initiative to get rid of her. I do not -- I think she should have the right to defend herself. But what you see on the video are people in the audience at an organization whose sole job is to fight against discrimination and they're applauding her overt racism that she's representing.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Well, there you heard from Andrew Breitbart. He might not be a household name, but in some circles he is incredibly influential. His main site is breitbart.com. It's a news aggregator that gets millions of hits, thanks mostly to frequent links from the "Drudge Report," which is actually where Breitbart got his first big break working as an editor. Since striking out on his own, Breitbart has built a brand around his, quote, "big Web sites" including the site that first posted the Sherrod video "Big Government." There's also "Big Hollywood," "Big Journalism" and "Big Peace."
ROBERTS: In an interview that was given when the sites launched, Breitbart said that the sites would, quote, "fight the mainstream media who have repeatedly and under the guise of objectivity and political neutrality promote a blatantly left-of-center pro-Democratic party agenda." "Big Government" was also the first site to post those undercover ACORN videos featuring the pimp and the prostitute. Ironically, Breitbart also helped launch "The Huffington Post," after meeting Arianna Huffington while working for Matt Drudge.
CHETRY: Well, we were the first show to allow Shirley Sherrod to defend herself in her own words yesterday morning. And she is going to be joining us again as developments come quickly, even as we speak in this case. There's a chance perhaps that Shirley Sherrod may even be back in her position before the day is out. She's going to join us to talk more about the fallout coming up in about an hour.
ROBERTS: One of the big questions we have for her, if offered her job back, does she want it after what happened.
A deadly flooding to tell you about in Flagstaff, Arizona today. Officials say a 12-year-old girl drowned in the rising waters after being pulled nearly a third of a mile from where she disappeared. Recent wildfires have made the area particularly vulnerable to flooding right now.
For a full look at your weather forecast, let's bring in our Jacqui Jeras. She's in the extreme weather center in Atlanta. And got some serious storms across the country. What are we looking at today?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, unfortunately, we have more flooding information to tell you about. And this has just been breaking overnight as rivers continue to rise and the rainfall comes down at just incredible rates. In northeastern Kentucky and West Virginia, there have been a number of rescues that have taken place. In Rowing (ph) County, homes have been flooded and evacuations have occurred as well. We're working with our affiliates to try to get you some more information and get you some pictures. We may be able to bring that to you later on this hour.
There are flash flood watches and warnings in effect here, and that does include the Cincinnati metro area. This could have another one to three inches of rain. And there you can see the severe weather threat associated with that same front that stays put. And heat is a big story across the south. Unfortunately, that's going to build again today with heat indices well beyond the triple digits. And we're tracking some systems in the tropics here. It's really kind of weakened overnight but the National Hurricane Center still has a high probability that this could develop into our next tropical storm. We'll have more details on that coming up when I see you guys again.
CHETRY: All right. Looks like those -- thanks so much, Jacqui. Looks like those unemployment benefit checks are going to be going out again. We're going to be talking more about that when we mind your business.
Also, BP's ruptured well. Scientists now say it's leaking in five places. It will stay capped for now, but there are new concerns as a storm may be headed that way. We'll have an update for you from the Gulf as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Fourteen minutes past the hour.
New this morning, Denver paramedics say at least 21 people were taken to the hospital after a United Airlines flight hit severe turbulence on its way to D.C. A city official says that people were treated for head, neck and back injuries. And at least one person was seriously hurt. The jet took off in L.A. and landed in Denver around 9:30 last night. The FAA says inspectors are now heading to the airport to investigate.
ROBERTS: And this morning, Lindsay Lohan is in a Los Angeles area jail. Lohan was sentenced to 90 days for missing mandatory alcohol treatment classes. She'll likely though only serve about two weeks because of jail overcrowding. Now, is that a mug shot or is that a mug shot?
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: We promise you that that's the last you'll hear of the story on this program at least until she gets out.
CHETRY: Really?
ROBERTS: I'm making that promise this morning. Count on me.
CHETRY: This is no cheesy magic trick, by the way.
A California teen has pulled off what many might think is impossible, trading an old iPhone for a Porsche. So how did he do it? OK, here we go.
It started two years ago. Steven Ortiz traded an old cell phone for an iPod on Craigslist. And he kept trading up, eventually acquiring dirt bikes. Then a MacBook Pro. The laptop was then traded for a Toyota 4-Runner and a few trades later, he ended up with a 1975 Ford Bronco. It was that Bronco that Ortiz then traded it for a 2000 Porsche. What's he going to do next?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEVEN ORTIZ, TRADED IPHONE FOR PORSCHE: I was thinking about selling this and buying a house for my parents. You never know. That or maybe another truck. So, we'll have to wait and see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wait a minute, he traded a 1975 Bronco for a 2000 Porsche Boxster?
CHETRY: It would be interesting to see how the other person thought that was good. Maybe he was a collector of Broncos.
ROBERTS: Was -- was there a kilo of cocaine in the Bronco that we didn't know about?
CHETRY: Oh, you had to go there, right? Who knows? But the guy's very influential, obviously. He knows how to --
ROBERTS: Who would make that trade?
CHETRY: He's a savvy -- he's a savvy dealmaker.
ROBERTS: Obviously. Wow, he's going to go a long way.
Well, new relief could be on the way for millions of Americans who desperately need jobs, but will extending unemployment benefits help or hurt the overall economy and the economic recovery? We'll find out.
Sixteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 19 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Millions of out of work Americans could soon receive federal help again. Senate Democrats, with the help of two Republicans, voted to end debate on a bill that would extend unemployment benefits through November.
CHETRY: Yes. Republicans have been blocking this extension because it would add another $34 billion to the deficit. They were calling for cuts elsewhere before they'd approve it. But, again, it looks like it's on its way to passage.
And joining us now to talk about the impact of extending jobless benefits, Shawn Tully, editor at large for "Fortune" magazine. Thanks for being with us this morning.
SHAWN TULLY, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Oh, my pleasure.
CHETRY: Now, you -- you have said that you're not for extending unemployment benefits even though all of us understand that, you know, if you don't have a job and you've been looking and you're long term unemployed, you're clearly suffering without money. But why do you think that the net effect long-term is really hurtful for the economy?
TULLY: Well, normally unemployment benefits go out to 26 weeks, and now they've extended eight times. We're at 99 weeks. The unemployment rate is still 9.6 percent. It's extremely high.
The big problem here is the money is being borrowed, and it's being added to the deficit. The deficit is one of the biggest problems we have in terms of future long-term interest rates, which are very worrisome to companies, and nothing is really being done to attack the root of the problem, which is the reluctance of companies, especially small companies, to hire people.
Putting this in context, what happened was in the late 2008 and through most of 2009, companies cut back as if there were a depression, expecting the economic problems to be even worse than they actually were. The companies are very understaffed now. We have an unemployment rate that's really at European levels, we've never seen in America, virtually.
And so they should be hiring again, and eventually they will hire again, but the hiring has been very, very slow. And the reason is because they're worried about the future cost problems because of such things as cap-and-trade, the big, looming increase in capital gains taxes, they file (ph) a sub-chapter S corporations or their taxes are going to go up, under profits next year for small companies. The health care bill is promising very large increases in their cost because if you have 50 employees you have severe penalties if you don't offer health insurance.
So, these companies, when they are in a tough economy, the first thing they cut is labor, and one of the great things about the American economy is that people are laid off very quickly in a recession and they're hired back very quickly in a recovery.
ROBERTS: But -- but what do you make of this argument that the Democrats made and that two Republicans buy into that by borrowing the money to extend unemployment benefits, you are putting money in the pockets of people who will spend it and what you're spend -- what you're outlaying is interest on the debt and the net effect is that you actually do a have an economic stimulus because of that money.
TULLY: Well, mathematically, that's impossible because what you're doing is you're borrowing it from people who otherwise would be spending it or saving it, and, if it's spent, goes right into the economy, and, if it's saved, it goes into the banking system and creates more credit and that money is immediately spent or spent very, very rapidly.
So you're just shifting money around. In other words, you're virtually borrowing it and taking it out of the economy from the same people that you're then sending checks to.
CHETRY: You know what a lot of people (ph) --
TULLY: So you're not creating any money here. In other words, the government doesn't create net money, it just shifts it around. CHETRY: A lot of people write in to us and say, well, why are we talking about $9.7 billion in aid to Pakistan and we're talking about sending money here, there and everywhere else if we're not going to take care of our own people first? Why is the argument that this particular amount of money to be spent has to somehow already be paid for, but all the other money we -- we freely spend is not necessarily subject to that same scrutiny?
TULLY: Well, clearly, we have a severe deficit problem. We have a -- a structural deficit before the additional spending for stimulus came on the scene, and now we are seeing that in 2020 we're going to have a trillion dollar deficit, after the economic recovery is in full force and unemployment rates are projected to be below 6 percent. That's never been the case before.
So we have this severe structural deficit. That cannot be stimulative. What we're spending on top of what's already a deficit that's not going to go away in a recovery cannot be stimulative to an economy.
It's something that Keynes' never recommended, even though it's been used in his name, and it's something that really has people terrified now, and it's going to drive up interest rates, it's going to increase tax rates. Those things are not stimulative.
And when you have much higher tax rates, you have fewer people participating in the economy. Spouses stay home and take care of the kids and they fire the nanny. Things like that happen so the labor force participation shrinks, and that's one of the major sources of growth in the country that's going to be lost if these deficits persist. So --
ROBERTS: No question the deficits are --are very frightening going up, but in terms of the economic -- the unemployment benefits at least, your very sage arguments considered, they've decided to do it anyway.
Shawn, it's great to see you this morning.
TULLY: My pleasure. Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks, Shawn.
Coming up, the coming-out party on Capitol Hill. The Congressional Tea Party Caucus meets for the first time, and there were some prominent Republicans who have signed on, but there are others who have declined. Jim Acosta, digging deeper for us.
ROBERTS: And five leaks have now been detected in BP's capping oil well -- or capped oil well, rather, raising concerns about whether it may be buckling under the pressure. Can it hold on?
Twenty-four minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Some renewed concerns now in the Gulf of Mexico about BP's ruptured well and whether or not it might be buckling. There are five leaks detected so far.
ROBERTS: Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen is dismissing the leaks though as, quote, "very small drips" and he's ordered the well to remain capped for sixth day now. As for the oil that we heard about that was seeping from the ocean floor, Allen says that that is coming from an older nearby well that's no longer in production.
Meanwhile, published reports say BP's beleaguered CEO Tony Hayward is stepping down. The company denies it.
And now, a new wrinkle, a weather system that's forming off of Puerto Rico could become a tropical depression with the Gulf squarely in its sights.
CHETRY: Yes. And rough seas, high winds, thunderstorms, of course, the last thing that clean-up crews need right now. It's proving to be challenging enough to spot oil slicks and then to get the boats out there to skim them off the ocean surface in calm conditions.
But, there is a new tool that's helping crews put a small dent in the enormous disaster. It's a blimp. And CNN and its viewers have been granted exclusive access to board.
Our Rob Marciano and Amber Lyon now on a tag team operation that's underway at sea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're just pulling up to the Coast of Gulf Shores, Alabama. Because this blimp just slides across the water, these guys have a great viewpoint. And when that -- when they spot anything wrong, they tell the pilots to then radio down to that vessel right there. Rob Marciano's on that.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): And we are on the lead strike team vessel that's heading out to the Gulf of Mexico to work with ten other vessels of opportunities that are skimming out there and that -- that blimp that's going to help recon (ph) with us. So it's going to be quite an experience.
Lieutenant J.G. Scott McBride with me on the command vessel here. He was just on the horn getting some information. What can you tell us?
LT. SCOTT MCBRIDE, U.S. COAST GUARD: Basically, what's happening here is the air ship is conducting its search pattern. It's flying approximately 22 knots. And what's going to happen -- what's going to happen is it flies at 1,000 feet. Once it spots oil, it's going to descend to 500 feet to get a closer look.
LYON: Webb, where are we headed right now? WEBB MOORE, U.S. COAST GUARD MISSION SPECIALIST: We -- we're actually going in, some skimmers have a report of medium to light oil so we're actually going to go there and find it.
These guys are picking up oil right here in these skimmers.
MCBRIDE: There is a little of a light sheen reported on the water and these guys, along with this strike team behind us, they -- they are going to clean it up.
LYON: We're going to look right now at some boom. There's a boat down there laying that to protect the beautiful white sands of Gulf Shores, Alabama. They even have a book that shows pictures of exactly what they are looking for and there's name for all these kinds of oil. You got medium oil there, light oil, we even have what's called a streamer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger that. Coming through with the boom in here. We were going to continue westbound about a half-mile offshore and meet up eventually with the four Morgan (ph) group.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Copy that.
MARCIANO: The workhorse in the Coast Guard Search and Rescue operations. And Steve Shore (ph), one of our photo journalists, is on top and riding around with them to give us yet another vantage point of how -- how all this is coming together.
LYON: I think what's most evident about the effects of this oil spill on the coastline is look at these beaches. Normally they're packed with tourists. And you're just seeing empty lawn chairs and umbrellas.
MOORE: We're going to see a lot of sharks that are pushed off. What's happening is the bait fish are coming closer to shore because of all the oil, so all the sharks, I mean, we've seen pods of 100-plus sharks at one time. I've never seen that in my entire life.
MARCIANO: The latest weapon in the arsenal to battle this oil spill, there's the airship heading back now to land. Seas here are getting way too rough to do any sort of effective skimming. So, at least for today, skimming operations have ended.
LYON: We just wrapped up day 12 of testing this blimp. There's about two weeks left, and then the Coast Guard will decide if they want to send this out in the field to hunt for oil permanently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Amber and Rob join us now. They're live in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
And, Amber, you've seen this disaster from the beneath the surface of the Gulf where you ran with sharks yourself, to now high above the Gulf. What's it's looking like in terms of the amount of oil that's out there? And what kind of help is this airship going to be in the days to come?
LYON: Well, John, when we were flying above the Gulf of Mexico, right by Gulf Shores, Alabama, we didn't spot any large slicks of oil, although some of the Coast Guard members who were on the blimp said that they did see a light sheen covering almost all of the Gulf that we were looking at.
And the cool thing about this blimp is that it can hover over the water at almost a complete standstill. It also can also move backwards, that helps spotters on-board look for any injured marine life and also for these slicks.
CHETRY: And, Rob, back on the boat, you talked about those skimming operations ending for the day because of the rough seas. And, of course, you are a meteorologist as well. There's concerns that there is a storm headed their way.
When -- I guess what I'm wondering is: how bad does it have to get before they decide to call it off? Can it just be, you know, a little bit of rough weather that will just suspend the skimming operations for the day?
MARCIANO: It doesn't take much. As a matter of fact, we were out there probably an hour or two longer than they needed to be as far as being effective. You know, you get three or four-foot seas and it gets tough for skimming operations, especially with the smaller vessels and the smaller slicks. So, it doesn't take a whole lot.
As for that tropical system you are speaking of, we'll just have to wait and see today and whether or not it develops a little bit further. If it does, it is pointed towards south Florida and potentially into the Gulf of Mexico later on this weekend and next week. But we'll know more about that. And, of course, all of my colleagues in the CNN weather center will tell you more about that as well.
I want to tell you about something that's happening this weekend. I had -- I'd been having quite an experience down here in the Gulf of Mexico over the past three months and I want to share it with you. We got an hour special that's going to air Saturday and Sunday.
And the people out here, you know, you certainly have a right to be angry, you have a right to be sad at what's going on here -- but you got to support the heroes that are doing the job do clean up the Gulf of Mexico and to save the Gulf of Mexico. I've had an opportunity to spend time with them -- 8:00 Saturday, 8:00 again on Sunday, both Eastern and Pacific Time. It's called "Rescue: Saving the Gulf." And we're highlighting the heroes that are doing just that.
LYON: And that's amazing, too, because we were talking about how much they really do suffer out there in this heat as they're cleaning up the oil spill. And even on the blimp yesterday, we didn't have bathrooms, we didn't have air conditioning. And it was about 118 degrees heat index inside for almost four hours in a row.
MARCIANO: Yes. They're all getting through it in the heat of -- in the heat of July and August. It's a tough go for sure.
CHETRY: We'll certainly be watching, Rob, 8:00 Saturday and Sunday. Thank you so much.
Meanwhile, we're crossing the half-hour, time for a look at the top stories.
Two and a half million Americans are one step closer to getting their jobless benefits restored. The Senate could vote as early as today to extend federal help through November. Yesterday, Democrats, with the help of two Republicans, voted to end debate on a bill. The House is expected to approve the extension.
ROBERTS: British Prime Minister David Cameron's first visit to the White House overshadowed by questions about BP and the release of Pan Am Flight 103 bomber. Cameron and President Obama both condemned the decision by Scottish authorities. A group of senators asked Cameron to investigate the role that BP may have played in his release. The British oil giant's been accused of lobbying for the release to gain access to Libyan oil fields.
CHETRY: It appears her reputation is restored, so will she get her job back? Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is now saying he will now reconsider the facts surrounding the decision to get rid of the department official, Shirley Sherrod -- a woman who lost her job over comments that sounded racist. The NAACP is saying it was snookered at first, but has now heard the whole tape.
ROBERTS: Well, it's a big Capitol Hill Tea Party. In just a few hours, the newly-minted Congressional Tea Party Caucus holds its very first official meeting.
CHETRY: So, how will the new status impact the growing Tea Party Movement?
Our Jim Acosta is following that. He's live for us in Washington.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
You know, the Tea Party is not on the outside looking in anymore. This new Tea Party Caucus is growing fast. The members are holding their first meeting later this morning. And just like the Tea Party itself, the leader of this new caucus is no stranger to controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): The Tea Party doesn't have to protest outside the Capitol to go its message across. The growing political movement now has its own organization or caucus inside the House of Representatives.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Grandma isn't shovel- ready.
ACOSTA: And the leader of the new Tea Party Caucus, Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota says her group will routinely sit down with ordinary Americans who, she says, want their country back.
BACHMANN: I think it's going to be very interesting to listen to what real doctors and real housewives and real farmers and real small businessmen have to say. They live in -- they live in the real world.
ACOSTA: The Tea Party Caucus message of low taxes and small government has already lured about a dozen GOP House members, including Indiana's Mike Pence.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: I'm proud to be a Tea Party- endorsed candidate for re-election. I was honored to join the Tea Party Caucus.
ACOSTA: But the caucus comes as the movement faces a big test. The NAACP has accused Tea Party leaders of tolerating racist behavior at their rallies. And one Tea Party leader, Mark Williams, was ousted from the movement after he posted a racially-charged commentary about the NAACP on his blog.
Booting Williams, Pence says, was the right call.
PENCE: When we see people in organizations over which we have influence that engage in rhetoric or commentary that is offensive to the American people, it is important that we speak out against that.
ACOSTA (on camera): So, the Tea Party needs to police itself?
PENCE: And I believe they are.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Bachmann says tea partiers have also been victims of offensive attacks. She points to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee's comments at a recent NAACP event. The Texas Democrat compared tea partiers to members of the KKK.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: Those who used to wear sheets and now being able to walk down the aisle and speak as a patriot because you will not speak loudly about the lack of integrity of this movement.
ACOSTA: When we called Jackson Lee's officer for an explanation of her remarks, an aide said she was unavailable.
BACHMANN: That's a highly offensive statement to make.
ACOSTA: As for Bachmann's take on the racial controversy surrounding the Tea Party Movement --
(on camera): Will you not appear at any more of their events?
BACHMANN: You know, that's really not the issue. The issue is what we're going to do here in Congress at the Tea Party Caucus. And what we're going to do is invite real people in and listen to them and get their great ideas out to other colleagues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And this caucus is already being taunted by Democratic leaders, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says he's anxious to see just how many Republicans adopt the Tea Party agenda. But Bachmann notes, it's open to Democrats, too -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: And, Jim, you were asking her specifically is she going to show up at any more Tea Party Express events, right? That was Mark Williams' group. What did she say to that?
ACOSTA: She really didn't give an answer. She did not give a definitive answer, yes or no. My sense is that she'll continue to do that. You know, they've held a lot of Tea Party rallies, not just with the Tea Party Express but members of Congress have been making regular appearances at Tea Party rallies up there on the Hill.
And when I asked Bachmann what she thought about some of the racially incendiary signs you see at some of these rallies, she said that while that might be going on, you can't control who shows up at these rallies. But she also said perhaps these are infiltrators trying to pose as Tea Party activists trying to hold these signs. That's her take on it.
ROBERTS: Well, everybody's got their take.
ACOSTA: That's right.
ROBERTS: Jim, thank so much.
ACOSTA: You bet.
ROBERTS: A famous face is in D.C. this morning. His message is simple: raise awareness to help at-risk kids and kids who need a place to call home. Actor Quinton Aaron who played Michael Oher in the movie, "The Blind Side," joins live -- coming up next.
It's 39 minutes after the hour.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA BULLOCK, ACTRESS (acting): Big Mike, why were you going to the gym?
QUINTON AARON, ACTOR (acting): Because it's warm.
BULLOCK: Do you have any place to stay tonight? Don't you dare lie to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The lesson of the film, "The Blind Side" -- one act of kindness is all it takes to turn a life around. Actor Quinton Aaron starred with Sandra Bullock in the Oscar-winning film and he's taking that lesson to heart now. He's in Washington today promoting the nonprofit group Children Uniting Nations which pairs at-risk and foster kids with mentors.
Aaron is going to co-chair today's conference. He joins us now live from our Washington bureau, along with Beatrice Franklin, who was mentored through the program.
Great to see you both this morning. Quinton and Beatrice, thanks so much for being with us.
AARON: Great seeing you, too. Thank you for having us.
ROBERTS: So, let me start with you, Quinton, if I could. How much did playing the character of Michael Oher and experiencing the story of "The Blind Side" inspire you here to give back to the children of United Nations?
AARON: Very much. After I seen, you know, how the fans took to the movie and, you know, the message that was put out through the movie. And, you know, it's a lot of what goes on in Hollywood that inspires what happens in the world today, as the way I see it. So, why not put our messages that would help our teens and youths. And like so many people are inspired to do better because of what they seen in the film. So that -- you know, encouraged me to go after a bigger cause, a greater cause and, you know, reaching more teens, more kids, more people in Michael's situation or worse situations to help them, you know, go after their dreams.
ROBERTS: Yes. And, you know, Beatrice, you've had -- you've had your own problems as a teen, bouncing around from foster homes to group homes, staying with relatives as well. Let me just get your reaction to the movie. It had a particular resonance with you when you saw it, didn't it?
BEATRICE FRANKLIN, MENTORED THROUGH CHILDREN UNITING NATIONS: Oh, yes, I cried throughout most of it. It was a beautiful story and so much of it I felt this resonated with my whole experience being in foster care.
ROBERTS: So, when did you first meet your mentors and how did they help you?
FRANKLIN: I met them at Day of the Child, which is an event put on by Children Uniting Nations. One day, a mentor comes out to mentor a child. I met them when I -- I was actually standing in the corridor and I didn't want to participate in the activity that day. And Joan came to the corner and she wanted to mentor a child, but there wasn't anymore kids to mentor. And so, my group home staff literally pulled me out of my chair to join the day with Joan and Kurtwood and I am so glad for it.
They have not only helped me to go to college, but they have become a psychological rock for me and been there in many dark hours of my life.
ROBERTS: That's great (ph).
You know, and, Michael, you've had some dark hours in your life as well. After you auditioned for the movie, "The Blind Side," your mom passed away, leaving you really to kind of pick up the pieces as a father figure for your family. How difficult was that?
AARON: It was, you know, definitely a test. Definitely. You know, see, I was very heavy into the church and all of my family that kept with me, stayed with me, helped me get through that point in time in my life. If it wasn't for them, I don't know, you know, where I would be. And, you know, I thank them very much for that, because my mom was my rock, you know?
ROBERTS: Right.
AARON: She was with me every step of the way. She's the one that found the role for me in the movie "The Blind Side." And she was my biggest supporter, my biggest fan. She knew me more than anything. So, when that happened, that was definitely a hard hit. But, you know, I knew what she wanted me to accomplish overall and that was my main motivation and determination to do what I had to do to get to where I needed to be.
ROBERTS: Let's take a look if we could, Quinton, at some of the statistics here. When it comes to people in foster care, the 500,000 in the system in 2006, 20,000 of them age out of the system every year. And we covered one particular story not too long ago. Only 54 percent achieve a high school diploma, 2 percent get a bachelor's degree or higher, 25 percent have been homeless at some point. Quinton, how did the mentoring programs that you're involve in battle those statistics?
AARON: I think it helps a lot when adults and, you know, parents and people other than the kids take on to what the kids are going through, you know. They go through so much in their daily lives, and they feel like they're alone. They feel like they have no one to turn to because they don't think anyone has been through or has any experience in what they're going through so they, you know, tend to face everything on their own thinking that they're alone.
ROBERTS: And Beatrice, the fostering program, as we said, has helped you battle the statistics. You're in college now. As you go through your college life and as you head into your professional career, are you planning to kind of pay it forward here, give back yourself?
BEATRICE FRANKLIN, MENTORED THROUGH CHILDREN UNITING NATIONS: Oh, definitely. I think that a lot of these kids don't feel like they're worth an education. And I think that just spending five minutes with them, letting them know that their abilities is good and that their talents are good and that they're worth and education and everything that an education can and will provide them with.
ROBERTS: All right. Certainly, a terrific thing that you're involved in. Quinton Aaron and Beatrice Franklin, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Really appreciate it.
AARON: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Good luck today with the program. By the way, if you want more information about all of this on how you can help Children Uniting Nations, just head to their Web site at childrenunitingnations.org -- Kiran.
CHETRY: They're doing great things. It's a wonderful program.
It's 47 minutes past the hour right now. Jacqui Jeras is in for Rob. She'll be keeping an eye on the tropics and in particular right there, a storm system that's forming. Will it affect the Gulf Coast cleanup? She's going to have more, plus the travel forecast after the break.
Also, the future of vanity. We'll show you the mirror that delivers a lot more than just your reflection.
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ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. And Jacqui, a lot of flooding in the last 24 hours. What's it going to look like in some of those areas today?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, more of the same. We're expecting to see more torrential downpours across the nation's midsection. We'll talk more about flooding in just a second, but I wanted to start out this morning talking about the tropics. The National Hurricane Center has upped the chance of this developing to high to 70 percent. We showed you yesterday all the showers and thunderstorms over San Juan. Take a look at what's happened here overnight. The system (ph) has really fallen apart and a little bit of dry air has kind of been moving into the system.
We still don't have what we would call a close circulation or a center area of low pressure which is what you really, really need to call this thing a tropical depression or tropical storm. So, the National Hurricane Center is going to update that outlook risk coming up at 8:00 eastern time. And we'll let you know what they have to say, but I'm not nearly as excited about development on thing at this time as a result of that. There you can see the forecast models, though, all really cluster together. So, this will be something we'll be monitoring for potentially Florida and possibly the Gulf of Mexico because conditions are more favorable in the Gulf for development than they are over in the Caribbean where it is right now.
Here's that line of thunderstorms. That stationary front is trying to sink a little bit further to the south. So, the area of flooding today has dropped down a little bit, but keep in mind, these folks have already seen flooding over weekend especially Northeastern Kentucky. There've been evacuations that have been taking place here as well as some rescues, another one to three inches, unfortunately, on top of what you had.
The northeastern corridor, you're doing okay right now, but there you can see that video that's out of Raleigh County (ph) and Northeastern Kentucky. The northeast does have a slight risk of severe thunderstorms as a result. And heat, heat, heat! It doesn't want to go away, guys. I wish I had better news for you but 90s still and still feeling like triple digits for so many people, and that could very well carry right into the weekend -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: So, we got to be careful in the heat. One track of that potential storm very troubling, taking it right to the mouth of the Mississippi.
JERAS: It absolutely is. It's good to see there's a lot of wind shear ahead of this system. So, that's going to make it really difficult for it to develop. So, let's cross our fingers on this one.
ROBERTS: We'll be cheering on the wind sheer. Thanks, Jacqui.
CHETRY: It may be the fairest mirror of them all. It's a place to get the news, the weather, play games. We're going to show you the mirror that can multi-task. It's being introduced in some hotel rooms, but what's it really do? We'll take a look. Fifty-three minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Four minutes until the top of the hour. If you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror every morning, you want to see this. Our Gary Tuchman shows us a mirror that delivers a lot more than just your reflection in today's "Edge of Discovery" report.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Magic mirror on the wall.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mirror that can multi-task? Snow White's evil queen had one. And now, the interactive mirror by Interference, Inc.
ALPAY KASAL, CO-CREATOR, INERNATIVE MIRROR: It's a new take on something that most people have in their home. We've added a little bit of magic to it.
TUCHMAN: One touch unlocks apps and widgets that transform the mirror into a gaming concept, a design board. You can place (ph) to get the news while using the mirror to start your day.
SAM EWEN, CEO, INTERFERENCE, INC.: I have the latest headline from CNN. I also have the time, date and weather right there. There's really no reason that we couldn't link this to your schedule on your iPhone or BlackBerry and your computer and say, you know, pop- up, here's what I'm doing today. TUCHMAN: Marketing executive, Sam Ewen and technology expert, Alpay Kasal, dreamed up the interactive mirror two years ago. From touch screen technology to augmented reality, the mirror recognizes an object in the real world and reacts by displaying information tied to that object.
EWEN: And we have a sort of simple hello world animation here, but this could be almost anything. So, you could be at a music store and wearing a U2 T-shirt, and we recognize it's a U2 logo, and then suddenly, we pop up the latest U2 video.
TUCHMAN: If you're wondering how to get one, a consumer version of the mirror is in the works. Its creators say it will cost in the hundreds.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: So, if you don't already spend too much time in front of the mirror now, you can spend even more time in the future.
CHETRY: You don't have to look at yourself, though. There are many other things to look at.
ROBERTS: Good news. Two minutes until the top of the hour. Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.
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