Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Sorry, Shirley; Arizona Immigration Showdown; A Black Eye for BP; Weather Threatens Gulf Coast; Inside the Command Center; Shirley Sherrod on Returning to USDA

Aired July 22, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is 6:00 here in New York on this Thursday, July 22nd. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us today. Got a lot to talk about. Let's get right to it.

Sorry, Shirley. An apology and now a new job offer for the woman whose comments about race were taken way out of context. The White House even acknowledging that the Shirley Sherrod situation was bungled.

CHETRY: Also, tens of thousands are without power. Trees and power line ripped right out of the ground all over Connecticut. At least four tornado warnings were issued as a dangerous batch of storms ripped across the northeast.

Can we expect more of the same today? We're going to get some answers when we check in with the extreme weather center coming up.

ROBERTS: And a threat to operations in the Gulf. Rough weather could be headed that way. If a storm does hit, efforts to kill BP's ruptured oil well could be set back by as much as two weeks. But if the weather does cooperate and a storm stays away a static kill designed to end this nightmare could be in play by the weekend.

CHETRY: Also, the "AM Fix" blog is up and running. Join the live conversation, head to CNN.com/amfix.

ROBERTS: But first this morning new developments in a story that we've been out in front of all week. The White House now trying to make good with former Agriculture Department official, Shirley Sherrod.

CHETRY: You'll remember she was forced out of her post when a portion of some comments that she made about race were posted online. Comments that were taken out of context. Well now her old boss says he wants her back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: This is a good woman. She's been put through hell. And I could have done and should have done a better job. I want to learn from that experience. I want the agency and department to learn from that experience. And I want us to be stronger for it.

I want to renew the commitment of this department to a new era in civil rights. I want to close the chapter on a very difficult period in civil rights. So I accept responsibility and I don't think -- the buck stops with me as it should.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Sherrod now says the administration has become a little too sensitive to the right.

Suzanne Malveaux is live for us at the White House this morning.

Hey, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Well, obviously, the White House is trying to be contrite about this. I mean the way White House explained it, it has said initially the White House was not involved. The president was not involved in that initial decision by Secretary Vilsack to demand Miss Sherrod's resignation.

And in fact, they had gone to say that the president initially supported Secretary Vilsack's decision to do that. It was later when they found the full tape, was disclosed and there was somebody at the White House -- they will not disclose who that is, we know it's not the president, but some messenger who pushed Secretary Vilsack and his staff to reopen this case and to take a second look at this.

Clearly, yesterday, what we saw in the briefing with Robert Gibbs, there is a lot of damage that has been done. White House aides acknowledge that and they realize that the White House does have some culpability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think without a doubt, Miss Sherrod is owed an apology. I will do so certainly on behalf of this administration. I think if we learn -- if we look back and decide what we want to learn out of this, I think it is, as I said, everybody involved made determinations without knowing all the facts and all of the events.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Kiran, initially, White House aides said that they do not expect the president necessarily to pick up the phone and apologize. We'll see if that changes. We'll see if the mood or the tone has changed over the last 12 to 24 hour us.

It is unclear whether or not the White House will give any further details about kind of the back-and-forth and the discussions between the White House and the Agriculture Department before this case was reopened.

As one White House aide put it, look, they don't want to turn this into another beer summit. Clearly it's a teachable moment but they also feel like this is something that was initiated and pretty much handled by the Agriculture Department. That this is something that Secretary Vilsack has handled and that he will continue to try to figure out a way to make this right for Miss Sherrod.

CHETRY: All right, we'll see where it goes from here. Thanks so much here.

You know, people were remarking yesterday, John, that this is the first time that all of the cable networks were taking a press conference from the Agriculture secretary live.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: Yes, and --

CHETRY: And when was the last time that happened?

ROBERTS: Quite a lot -- what I thought was particularly interesting yesterday when we had Shirley on our air, watching the White House press conference, the daily briefing, when --

CHETRY: Pretty surreal.

ROBERTS: -- Robert Gibbs made those remarks. Pretty interesting.

CHETRY: All right, well, so yesterday she said she wasn't sure about whether or not she was going to take her job back. Will she reconsider? And what exactly is the job offer? Shirley Sherrod will be joining us live in our studio coming up in about 25 minutes.

ROBERTS: More dangerous weather ripping across the northeast. Four different tornado warnings were issued across Connecticut. The National Weather Service says at least one hit the northwestern part of the state.

The winds knocked over trees and power lines, damaging cars and homes. At the height of the storm, tens of thousands of people were without electricity.

CHETRY: Also for the second time just this week, dangerous floods hitting eastern Kentucky. Local officials say well over 200 homes have washed off of their foundations. One firefighter tells us that people had to be evacuated from the fast-moving waters.

Many were trapped and some even were forced to scramble to their rooftops to try to escape. Nearly a foot of rain fell in the past 24 hours.

ROBERTS: So what's in store for the rest of the day and even tomorrow? Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center in Atlanta for us this morning. Good morning, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. One of the big stories, of course, yesterday which you just mentioned, was the flooding in parts of eastern Kentucky.

Well, today, there is a chance we might see more flooding but this time mainly the western half of the Great Lakes and also into portions of the Midwest.

The reason why is because we've got the stationary front hovering just over that part of the regions. With that, scattered showers and storms are going to form over the same area again and again. We refer to that in meteorology as a training effect.

As been happening, Kentucky could see it play out again today. Also delays in Minneapolis to Chicago, and back into parts of Iowa, as well. So certainly, look out for that threat of flooding once again. Guys?

CHETRY: Also, keeping an eye down in the tropics, of course, whether or not the weather down there is going to affect or hamper the oil spill operations.

WOLF: Well, 'tis the season. I mean, we're talking about -- you know, of course, the Atlantic hurricane season has been so far fairly busy in terms of development that we've been seeing. Only one named storm so far.

But we've seen a lot of impulses on -- the Intertropical Convergence Zone.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Yes, and Rob was out there on that skimming boat yesterday. He said it doesn't take much. It could be three or four- foot waves and they can't skim.

WOLF: Absolutely. And that's a guarantee. We are going to see some heavier wind action from this. Certainly some heavy rainfall, too. And the last thing they need is any kind of difficulty weatherwise. But they're going to have a few impulses out there. Could be a very interesting as we get into the weekend.

CHETRY: All right, thanks, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet, guys.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, nearly half of Americans are predicting that President Obama will be a one-term president. This is according to a Quinnipiac University survey. Forty-eight percent of people say the president does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012. Forty percent says -- say that he does deserve to be re-elected.

Thirty-nine percent say they'd vote for any Republican candidate, while just 36 percent say they'd vote for the president. ROBERTS: A long-term study in the diabetes drug Avandia is on hold now while the FDA considers the risk for patients. The clinical trial compares Avandia to its rival drug Actos. Several studies have linked Avandia to a higher risk of heart attack in some people.

Last week, an FDA advisory panel voted to keep it on the market but with a stronger warning label and tighter restrictions for its use.

CHETRY: American Airlines is being sued by a passenger who claims that the airline refused to refund the $25 checked baggage free -- fee after they lost her bag. The federal lawsuit seeks class action status, claiming that American has denied refunds to potentially thousands of passengers whose bags are missing or damaged.

The airline is not commenting on the suit.

ROBERTS: So did they give her compensation at least for the bag?

CHETRY: Yes, I think this was more, you know, to make a point, that wait a minute, you're making me pay a fee for my bag to be checked and then you lose it.

ROBERTS: Yes.

CHETRY: At least you can do is give me that money back.

ROBERTS: Doesn't seem fair, does it?

CHETRY: No.

ROBERTS: Well, coming up, the feds taking the state of Arizona to court today over the state's crackdown on illegal immigrants. The Justice Department wants to block Arizona's tough new immigration law from taking effect next week.

CHETRY: We talked about the static kill operation to try and stop that well? Well, it could be in play in the next 48 hours. If it works, BP's ruptured well in the Gulf may be finally, permanently plugged.

But as we've been talking about there is a storm system in the Atlantic looming. Contingency plans perhaps to remove some of the equipment to make sure it doesn't get damaged.

So what is ahead in the Gulf? Rob Marciano reporting there live in just a moment. Nine minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up now 12 minutes after the hour. Just a few hours' time, a federal judge in Arizona hears arguments in two lawsuits challenging the state's controversial new law that targets illegal immigrants. One is being brought by the Obama Justice Department. CHETRY: Arizona's law is set to take effect next week. And supporters say it's a response to the federal government's failure to secure the southern border. But the feds say that the borders are more secure than ever.

So could both sides be right? CNN's Casey Wian has a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the issue of border security, the White House is clearly on message.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The southern border is more secure today than at anytime in the past 20 years.

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I know that border, I think, as well as anyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it's secure?

NAPOLITANO: And I will tell you it is as secure now as it has ever been.

SHERIFF PAUL BABEU, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA: That's not the case.

WIAN: Just north of the border in Arizona, a different message.

BABEU: We've told people come ride along with one of our deputies, and you will see the situation. The government's response was, instead of sending troops, they put up billboard-size signs that we just passed that say don't come into this area, it's dangerous, warning. And there's drugs and human smuggling.

That shouldn't be the reaction of our government.

GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: This is an outrage. Washington says our border is as safe as it has ever been. Does this look safe to you?

WIAN: So is the border more secure than ever or is it being overrun by increasingly violent drug and immigrant smugglers? Since 2004 the Border Patrol has doubled in size to about 20,000 agents. And it's installed billions of dollars worth of cameras, sensors and fences.

The National Guard is being redeployed temporarily to help. And there are already signs of success. The Homeland Security Department says seizures of drugs were up 15 percent last year, weapons, 30 percent.

Still, apprehensions of illegal immigrants were down 23 percent. But the government also sees that as a positive development. An indication that fewer people are trying to cross illegally. But no one knows how many are not caught.

SHERIFF LARRY DEVER, COCHISE COUNTY, ARIZONA: If you talk to Border Patrol agents on the ground, you'll get answers from -- on any given day, we might catch, you know, three out of five. On another day, we may get one out of ten. You know they just don't know.

WIAN: Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 387,000 illegal immigrants last year. More than a third of them criminals. And about one million fewer illegal immigration were living in the United States at the beginning of the last year than in 2007, according to Homeland Security Department estimates.

Still 10.8 million remain, living in legal limbo. And the government has made little progress on that.

BENJAMIN JOHNSON, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION COUNCIL: The issue has become too important. It's become too divisive, it's become too destructive socially for us to be able to dodge the issue for much longer. It really is -- it's an open wound. And we can't keep rubbing it. We need to figure out how to start healing that wound.

WIAN: Meanwhile, a battle is brewing in an Arizona courtroom over a controversial state law cracking down on illegal immigrants that has only hardened both sides of the debate.

Casey Wian, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And as the debate over Arizona's immigration laws moves from the streets into the courts tonight, a special primetime edition of "RICK'S LIST: SHOWDOWN IN THE DESERT." Tonight, 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Well, BP is resorting to Photoshop enhancing a Web site photo and its own image in the process. Critics are calling it just one more example of the oil giant playing fast and loose with the facts.

The smoking gun photos that are giving BP its latest black eye. We'll show them to you coming. Fifteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Another embarrassing black eye for BP this morning.

ROBERTS: The oil giant was caught red handed apologizing now for posting a picture of its Crisis Command Center on its Web site that was Photoshopped to make it look busier than it actually was.

CHETRY: Yes. See for yourself. We'll show you first the doctored image. There it is. It shows ten giant video screens each with underwater scenes being closely monitored by command center staffers.

ROBERTS: OK. So that's the -- that's the picture that they put on the Web site. Now, let's take a look at the original side by side. Lots of cutting and pasting looks like going on there. Critics call it another example of BP playing fast and loose with the truth. The oil giant has apologized while placing the blame on a photographer.

CHETRY: OK. Well, BP will no doubt weather that storm. But the one that's brewing right now in the Atlantic might be far more challenging.

ROBERTS: It needs no enhancement either. Right now, it's a tropical system is positioned near the Bahamas. If it turns into a tropical depression or a storm and it stays on its current track, it could cause serious destruction to operations in the Gulf, setting back efforts to kill BP's leaking well by as much as two weeks.

CHETRY: Well, the timing will be tricky. But if the weather does cooperate and that, of course, is a big "if" especially this time of year and it's hurricane season after all, the oil giant may try to seal the well for good with static kill. That's the procedure that could take place over the next 48 hours.

Our Rob Marciano has a look at the operations as they struggle to clean up the Gulf. Now, Rob, static kill, we talked about that much like the top kill procedure that involves pumping heavy mud. Why would this perhaps have a better chance of working than top kill which did not work?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had all that oil that was gushing out of -- out of the damaged well all of that pressure -- upward pressure was the -- the reason that now we have a better handle on the thing. We have static pressure now, hence, the name static kill. So they think that with all of the tests that they've done that they've got a pretty good chance that this -- this may happen.

Now, earlier in the week, we were under the impression that they were trying to get the relief well into a better shape, maybe lining (ph) that thing before they tried the -- the static kill. But it looks like they may very well go ahead with the static kill as early as tomorrow. Again, no confirmation of that.

The weather, a huge concern. Even if they get just gale force winds into the Gulf of Mexico that would be a little bit over 30 miles an hour in winds that disrupts this thing by -- by weeks, if not days. And they don't want to line the relief well until they know the weather is going to be good, because that takes five to seven days. So, they have stopped that procedure, at least for now, and they'll make a call on the weather a little bit later on today.

Right now, it looks like something will get to the Gulf of Mexico, how strong it will be is the other question. Of course, cleanup operations continue. Skimming operations continue. There are over 700 skimmers now in the Gulf of Mexico trying to clean up this mess. A few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to imbed with a Coast Guard skimmer, and here's what my experience was like on the deck of that vessel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO (on camera): Using the (INAUDIBLE) a leaf blower to blow up these booms and get them filled up with air, like balloons. How much of a mess does that look like? And it hadn't even started skimming yet. So what's the process?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, you've got to make sure the net ain't angled. Lift it up off the deck and just get it down in the water.

MARCIANO: So this is a dance between you, crewmen, hosemen, the crane operator and the cockpit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. Exactly.

MARCIANO (voice-over): With the boom in the Gulf, we needed to move a skimmer hose into position so it could go into the water as well. But trying to work on a pond of oil isn't easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, ask them if they could back down a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Hook it up right to the skimmer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be careful it's slick, that's for sure.

MARCIANO (on camera): I mean, I'm just standing here and I'm moving.

CWO. DAVID HANSEN, USCG DECK SUPERVISOR: Yes. It -- It doesn't get any better either.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we want to bend that hose at a 90. It's just going to take all three of them. That should work. All right. You all come out of there.

MARCIANO: You get absolutely no leverage working in this stuff and that's just like three guys just to move it that far, sliding and slipping all over the place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: Everything required to clean up the Gulf of Mexico I've learned is painstakingly slow, including working on that skimmer just on deck.

In the next hour, John and Kiran, we'll give you a little insight as to how the actual skimming happens in the water. And with this weathered oil as thick and as peanut butter like it is, that is a slow challenge as well.

ROBERTS: Yes. That's just -- it seems so difficult to work in and then, of course, the heat. You got Hazmat suit on, those are pretty terrible conditions to have to be out in?

MARCIANO: And those guys do it every day with no complaints. They're -- they're the heroes out there trying to save the Gulf of Mexico.

CHETRY: You're right.

ROBERTS: Good on them for doing that. Rob, thanks so much. We'll see you again soon.

By the way, don't miss "Rescue: Saving the Gulf." Rob Marciano takes you inside what may be the biggest clean-up job in the world. Watch his special from the Gulf Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN. That -- that really redefines dirty jobs.

CHETRY: Oh, yes. Absolutely.

Well, also new this morning, the House is expected to take up and to pass a bill today that extends unemployment benefits through the end of November for some two and a half million people still unemployed. The Senate passed the bill yesterday by a vote of 59 to 39. President Obama has promised to sign the legislation once it's on his desk.

ROBERTS: He's taken a $22 million hit since the big scandal broke and he can't seem to make a putt anymore. But Tiger Woods still has the endorsement world by the tail. "Sports Illustrated" with its list of the 50 highest earning athletes in America and there's Tiger on top for a seventh straight year with an estimated earnings of $90 million in 2009. That is down significantly from $112 million the year before.

Fellow PGA star Phil Mickelson quietly climbed up to second on the list at $61 million. Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the Miami Heat's LeBron James and New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez all are at the top five.

CHETRY: It's interesting. I mean, the money part of it, you think that his image took a hit, of course, on the wake of a scandal.

The Harris interactive poll every year about the favorite athletes, Tiger Woods is still at top, the most popular. He's been there since 2005. This year, he shared the honor with Kobe Bryant. But isn't that amazing that he's still ranks that high in spite everything that happens to him.

ROBERTS: There are so many people who appreciate him for his athleticism and his prowess, his ability in golf, as opposed to his personal life. But I think 2010, his earnings will take a lot more of a hit than they did in 2009.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, 94 days into the disaster in the Gulf and we've been able to show you the crews cleaning up the millions of gallons of oil spilled. But now, we're going to take you inside one of the incident command posts for a rare look at the other side of the cleanup.

It's 25 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour.

Day 94 now of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, and, hour after hour, every day since the well broke, crews have worked feverishly to clean up the hundreds of millions of gallons of crude that have spilled into the Gulf.

A huge part of that effort is coming out of the Incident Command Post in Mobile, Alabama, and our Amber Lyon got a rare look inside in this "A.M. Original."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outstanding. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're welcome.

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Charles Diorio. He's a commander with the U.S. Coast Guard and right now he's giving us a tour.

And how many people work here?

CMDR. CHARLES DIORIO, U.S. COAST GUARD SPOKESMAN: Well, there's about 1,100 people, give or take, at any time here at the command center.

LYON: This center controls what areas?

DIORIO: Right. This map basically shows our area of responsibility for sector Mobile, and Mobile encompasses three states, as I mentioned, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida.

LYON: So here, right there, the weather --

DIORIO: But we can talk about the weather. Sure.

LYON: -- you guys have been keeping a close eye on all of that?

DIORIO: At the moment, this is probably our main focus, this developing storm. We're already starting to pull some equipment off the beaches. We started removing equipment and moving people out of the affected area so that we are out ahead of the local population.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's a map that we -- we make.

LYON: Captain, when I'm seeing hundreds of people here working, I'm thinking what the heck are you guys going to do if a hurricane comes to Mobile?

CAPT. STEVE POULIN, JOINT INCIDENT CMDR., U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, we've got a severe weather plan in effect. We're really looking closely at this system that may develop. We're executing that plan right now. We've got a strategy in place to relocate assets where we need to and also relocate people if necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

LYON: So we're in the trailer where they communicate with all of the vessels of opportunity that are out in the Gulf, and you're actually having a boat that's in distress right now?

KARL HARRIS, U.S. COAST GUARD: We've heard some screaming on the radio and we decided -- decided to listen in on it and it was -- happen to be a vessel taking on water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

LYON: Hear the captain talk right now. It sounds like he's -- he's a bit stressed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

LYON: So it's pretty cool you're -- you're helping to save this boat that's all the way out off the coast of Louisiana from here in Alabama.

HARRIS: It is. It's definitely different (ph).

LYON: Well, hopefully the boat's OK.

HARRIS: We'll keep listening by and, you know, try to do what we can to help.

LYON: Given that it's day 94 of the oil spill, there's a lot of uncertainty inside as to how long this command center is going to need to be active. But one thing for sure, every respondent we spoke with says they're going to stay here as long as it takes -- John and Kiran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And since Amber filed her report, we've been checking repeatedly with the Coast Guard for an update on that boat that was in distress. Unfortunately, they don't have any news for us yet. But we're staying on top of it and we'll bring that update just as soon as we know more about it.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, we're crossing the half hour right now -- time for a look at the top stories this morning.

Devastating flooding in Tennessee -- now the focus of a congressional hearing today. At issue is whether the response by the Army Corps of Engineers made an even bad situation even worse. More than a foot of rain fell in the Nashville area in one weekend back in May.

ROBERTS: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke describing the economy in two words: "unusually uncertain." Though he did tell Congress yesterday the fed expects the economy to grow. That did little, though, to ease fears on Wall Street. The Dow fell after Bernanke's remarks and closed down at 109 points.

CHETRY: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack offering a profound apology to Shirley Sherrod and inviting her back to the department. The White House even agreeing that they bungled it. Three days ago, she was forced out and forced to defend herself against charges of racism after a speech she gave in front of the NAACP. So, does she want to go back?

ROBERTS: Let's ask her. We're joined by Shirley Sherrod again this morning.

Great to see you.

SHIRLEY SHERROD, FORMER GEORGIA DIRECTOR, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: Thank you. Good to see you.

CHETRY: Nice to see you in person.

So, certainly, it's been a whirlwind, I said three weeks because it feels like that's how long it's been.

SHERROD: Right.

CHETRY: So much has developed and changed in the story. But, as I know, you heard from the secretary yesterday. You were watching as both the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and the agriculture secretary spoke about your situation. I just want to play a little snippet for our audience about what Secretary Vilsack said regarding the situation.

SHERROD: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: This is a good woman. She's been put through hell. And I could have done and should have done a better job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, as we know, he's since offered you a job with the Department of Agriculture, a different job. Have you thought more about whether you'd accept?

SHERROD: You know, that happened late yesterday and I really have not had a chance to look at -- he told me he would send the offer in writing. I haven't had a chance to see that yet. I'm not so sure -- I'm not so sure that going back to the department is the thing to do. I know that I have lots of farmers and others in Georgia. I've been getting messages, "Shirley, please come back to work with rural development in Georgia." But that's not what the offer is.

CHETRY: As I understand, it would be something to do with civil rights, perhaps in an Office of Outreach?

SHERROD: Yes. Yes, it would. And that's -- you know, that's another reason why -- I would not want to be the one person at USDA that's responsible for issues of discrimination within the agency. You know, there's a lawsuit by black farmers. There's a lawsuit by Hispanic and Native-American and women farmers.

There's -- you know, there are issues within the department. There are changes within the department that would need to happen in order to once and for all really deal with discrimination.

ROBERTS: And so, you'd rather be on the front lines. You'd rather be working with the people who are working the land?

SHERROD: Yes. I'm -- that's, you know -- so I'm not so sure. When I went to rural development, those individuals I have worked with in Georgia and around the country really did not want to see me go to work within the agency.

ROBERTS: Yes.

SHERROD: But I wanted to do that to try to make some changes within the agency, based on things I have seen, as someone who had helped others to try to access progress within the agencies for years.

ROBERTS: You know, when the agriculture gives a press conference yesterday, he said you'd been put through hell.

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: It was him who put you through hell --

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: -- and the administration --

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: --- and the NAACP.

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: You really got thrown under the bus in what would appear to be a knee-jerk reaction by this administration to deflect criticism from the right.

SHERROD: Right.

ROBERTS: And I'm wondering what you think about that? How you became a political victim in this fight back-and-forth?

SHERROD: You know, the thing that really hurts is it was so easy for them to make a decision to throw me under the bridge, you know, without looking.

I was asking them, please look at the entire speech. Look at my message and you'll see that's not the message I put out there. But no one was willing to do that. It was easy to put the blame all on me.

CHETRY: Right.

SHERROD: Get me out of there. You dealt with the problem. That's what's so scary about maybe going back in to work and thinking -- oh, she'll deal with the problem. And anything could be blamed on me.

CHETRY: Right. But did you think at the time that -- you knew you were in the right, you told them at the time to go look at the tape. Did you think this -- did you ever say anything to them along the way, that if you don't look at the tape, and once this whole thing gets out there, you guys could be looking at more trouble for yourselves?

SHERROD: Well, you know, one thing I said, the last thing I said with that last call where I was asked to pull to the side of the road to send in my resignation, I said, "You know, the fight hadn't been in me before, but it's definitely here now and you have not heard the last from me."

ROBERTS: Yes.

SHERROD: I don't think -- I really didn't know exactly what that meant when I said it. But I knew -- I know I'm a fighter. And I knew at that point I would not take this laying down.

ROBERTS: And now, you're on so many television screens across America. You've got a very big voice. We want to talk more with you, Shirley, but we've got to take a break. So, can we do that when we come back?

SHERROD: Yes. Yes.

ROBERTS: All right.

We'll be right back. It's 36 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. We're back now with Shirley Sherrod.

Something I wanted to talk to you about, Shirley. It's not exactly surprising given the tone in America, but it is -- it is very, very troubling. And your father was murdered by a white man more than 40 years ago.

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: You endured a cross burning on your property. You saw that no one was indicted -- that's a photograph of him -- no one was indicted for his murder. And now that you've come out and you were so egregiously wronged in all of this, you're getting hate mail and nasty phone calls?

SHERROD: Yes.

ROBERTS: Tell us about that.

SHERROD: That's exactly right. I've been called many, many names with some of the e-mail that came through early on. In fact, on my government-issued BlackBerry, I turned that in, of course, on Monday, kind of glad, because on my drive to -- from West Point, Georgia, on Monday when I was getting those calls, I was also getting hate mail on my e-mail. And it just kept beeping the entire trip.

CHETRY: And you were getting hate mail because of the spliced version that was posted on BigGovernment.com, Andrew Breitbart's Web site.

SHERROD: Yes.

CHETRY: A lot of people are wondering how you feel about him and the site, given that this is sort of what started the entire thing?

SHERROD: Right. You know, it's hard to take a person like him. It's hard for me to understand a person like him. And it's hard for me to understand, what is his purpose? What is he trying to do really? Who is -- you know, I know he could easily make a decision to destroy me. But in destroying me, what else is he trying to do?

CHETRY: When he was questioned about it, he said it wasn't about Shirley Sherrod. It was about showing that there was racism within the NAACP.

SHERROD: No.

CHETRY: Do you buy that?

SHERROD: I don't buy that because if -- I mean, he had to know that he was taking a portion of my speech, and it wouldn't be the NAACP that would go down, it would be me. Those words were coming from my mouth. So, for him to take them out of context, is he going to take the NAACP down with my words? No.

ROBERTS: Well, let's get you to respond because the precise argument that is being made is it wasn't so much, this is the argument that they're making now, it wasn't so much what you said, it was the audience's reaction to it, that when you said, "Here he was, trying to act all superior to me, and I was trying decide what to do about it," the audience sort of laughs a little bit it. Maybe shows approval -- and that's where he's saying the racism came in.

Let's get you to speak to that.

SHERROD: The audience was not laughing. And in fact, I remember, in telling my story, and this is why I tell it the way I tell it. I literally had people on the edge of their seats because I wanted their attention so that I could then get to the real message. And the real message is that we need to work together.

They didn't know -- many people know about what happened to my father and about my early life. A lot of folks in that audience didn't. So, I weave the story to really get their attention and then I get the real message out there.

They were not laughing. They were not laughing. And --

CHETRY: If you listen even more when you finally explain it's moving past race, there is a lot of approval in the audience from those comments.

SHERROD: Yes. Yes.

CHETRY: Again, you got to hear the whole thing in context.

Would you consider a defamation suit against Andrew Breitbart?

SHERROD: I really think I should. You know, I don't know a lot about the legal profession, but that's one person I'd like to get back at.

ROBERTS: Really?

SHERROD: He came at me. You know, he didn't go after the NAACP. He came at me, you know?

ROBERTS: So, in getting back at him, what would you be looking to exact from him?

SHERROD: I don't know what I can get from him, an apology at this point. And he hasn't made that. It's just not enough for me.

ROBERTS: Not enough for you?

SHERROD: No. He didn't -- he didn't apologize.

CHETRY: Would you like his site to be shut down?

SHERROD: That would be a great thing. Because I don't see how that advances us in this country. I don't see how that helps us, at a time when we have many, many minority groups in this -- many, many ethnic groups I guess is what I mean to say -- in this country, at a time when we should be trying to look at how we can make space for all of us in this country, so that we can all live and work together. He's doing more to divide us.

ROBERTS: And what about President Obama? You supported him. You're a political appointee. And then this happens.

I mean, I wonder what your thoughts are about the way he reacted to this and about the way that his administration is dealing with these tough issues regarding race.

SHERROD: Yes. I really regret what they did. But as I've said before, he's my president. I support him fully. I'd like to help him to see some of the things he should do in the future, you know, that could be more helpful than what's happening right now, to advance the issues of togetherness in this country.

He hasn't lived the kind of life I've lived. I know that he's African-American, or part African-American, but -- and many of us are not totally black in our genes. I'm one of them. But he's really -- you know, when you get down to where the rubber meets the road, I think you need to understand a little bit more of what life is like at that level.

ROBERTS: Well, maybe they need you inside the White House, as opposed to inside the Department of Agriculture.

SHERROD: No, you know. I'd love to talk to him or people in his administration to have them understand.

ROBERTS: Do you drink beer?

SHERROD: No, I don't drink beer. I'm afraid I don't. You know, I'm from the South, the Bible Belt.

CHETRY: You could have a sweet tea summit?

SHERROD: Yes.

CHETRY: But it will be interesting to see if he does reach out to you. As you know, the apology coming from Whit House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs yesterday. No phone call from the president, himself that truly that can change.

SHERROD: Yes. Yes.

CHETRY: Thank you for your time this morning. I know it's been a whirlwind for you. I hope you get to at least enjoy a little bit of your summer, relax a little bit after all you've been through.

SHERROD: Thank you.

ROBERTS: You're in a very powerful position now.

SHERROD: Is that right?

ROBERTS: You got the attention of the nation. When someone's got the attention of the nation, particularly a person like you, you can do great things.

SHERROD: Thank you.

ROBERTS: And I know you've been doing great things up until now that go on from here. Shirley, great to talk to you.

SHERROD: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Thanks for coming in.

SHERROD: OK.

ROBERTS: Reynolds Wolf is in for Rob this morning. He is going to have this morning's travel forecast right the after the break.

CHETRY: Also in 10 minutes, the amazing picture of two sailors and Mother Nature getting a little too close for comfort. What happened when that whale decided he had enough from that sailboat? Forty-six minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: I'm Reynolds Wolf, and you're watching CNN AMERICAN MORNING, the Most News in the Morning. And this is a look at the weather forecast for the day.

You know, yesterday, we had a very tough time weather wise, especially in parts of the northeast. You'll get a break there but check out parts of Kentucky. Heavy rain possible again today. We got the stationary front that's right across. We couldn't (ph) see some delays in places like Louisville. But then when you get back over toward, say, the western half of the Great Lakes for potential delays from Chicago, perhaps portion to Midwest, even a small flight into Lincoln, Nebraska, you might have some issues there as well.

Let's talk about the tropics. They are getting busy. No question about it. Take a look at this area where we have this orange box right in it. We got some tropical development. Some of this looks pretty intense, deep convection. However, this tropical system, although, there is a chance about a 40 percent chance of it developing into something bigger, it is going to have quite a bit of reaction with land and that could cause this thing to weaken over the next 12 to 24 hours.

However, a computer model shows the core of this possibly making its way into parts of the Gulf of Mexico right near the areas where we have, of course, the oil spill. Now, is it going to become a named tropical storm? So, a lot that is -- again (ph) is going to be in its way. For one, of course, the islands, you got the Florida keys, the Florida itself, and of course, parts of Cuba. So, if it can make its way through the straits of Florida, it's something we'll watch very, very carefully.

You're watching CNN, AMERICAN MORNING, the Most News in the Morning. We have more coming up straight ahead. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: The signs of Yellowstone National Park warn keep your distance from the wildlife. One woman found out the hard way what happens when you don't heed that warning. She and a friend spotted a bison. When they got too close, the bison got agitated and charged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back. Back, back.

(EXPLETIVE WORD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back!

CHETRY (voice-over): I love when the camera keeps rolling in these stories. The bison rammed the woman in her thigh, but she was only bruised, thank goodness. Took off after the woman's husband ran to her safety. This is the second time in the summer that a bison has charged and injured a visitor

ROBERTS (voice-over): Wow. Don't get close to the wildlife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS (on-camera): Time now for the Moos News. First, you might think the pictures a face, a massive whale leaping out of the water and landing on the sailboat.

CHETRY: It was a terrifying run-in but all too real for one couple. Jeanne Moos spoke with them about the up close encounter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine, you're out with your boyfriend for a sail.

PALOMA WERNER, CAPE TOWN SAILING ACADEMY: The next thing I hear him say, oh (EXPLETIVE WORD).

MOOS: When a whale about the size of your boat springs out of the ocean.

WERNER: This massive creature just going up next to the boat and smashing against the mast.

MOOS: This is the before and this was the after. Sailing school partners, Paloma Werner and Ralph Locust (ph) lived to joke about the encounter just outside Cape Town Bay in South Africa.

WERNER: But we said we had a whale of a time.

MOOS: Even if it'll cost at least 5,000 bucks to fix the 32-foot boat, the whale seemed fine afterwards, though he left some blubber on deck.

MOOS (on-camera): Were you thinking "Jaws?"

WERNER: No, not at all. I wasn't scared at all.

MOOS (voice-over): All Paloma and Ralph need is a repaired mast. The photo of the encounter was shot by a tourist within the nearby boat. It'd all been watching a whale repeatedly surfacing when suddenly it crashed the yacht. Now, it's one thing if a flying carp flies into your boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!

MOOS: Or flies directly into you. We've even seen killer whales force a penguin to jump on a boat to escape. But when it comes to the most persistent boat crasher, take a gander at this goose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my! What a crazy goose. The sucker won't leave her alone. Get. Get. That sucker's crazy! Look at that crazy sucker.

MOOS: At least the whale didn't chase the sailboat. Actually, environmental officials are checking reports that, perhaps, the sailboat was harassing the whale by being too close. Paloma says that just isn't so. They were sailing without a motor. The whale didn't hear them and simply surfaced. If he'd landed on the of deck rather than smacking the mast --

WERNER: And we would have been as dead as a pancake.

MOOS: Estimated weight of a right whale, 40 tons. All fins on deck.

WERNER: It was amazing.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --

WERNER: It was actually awesome.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Very lucky couple, but how about that goose?

CHETRY: That goose was kind of the geese that get nasty (ph).

ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) it means they get hold to something, they don't like to let it go.

CHETRY: Even that poor dog.

Your top stories coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)