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American Morning
Iranian President Survives Assassination Attempt; BP Announces Static Kill Working; More Triple-Digit Heat; Connecticut Workplace Shooting; Torch Fires Up BlackBerry; Happy Birthday Mr. President; "The Fear is the Unknown"; Taxing the Wealthy; Recycle Butts
Aired August 04, 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 Wednesday morning. Thanks for joining us on the "Most News in the Morning." It's the 4th of August. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning including some breaking news this morning.
ROBERTS: Yes. Absolutely. Meantime, lots happening as well. It's working, the static kill. Maybe the best news since the start of the Gulf oil disaster more than 100 days ago.
A long time coming as well, Bp announcing overnight that the static kill, an operation to permanently seal the well and so 206 million gallons of oil so far, is a success.
We're live in the Gulf Coast with the latest progress report.
CHETRY: Also the debate over Proposition 8. A federal judge in California is set to decide whether the state's ban on same-sex marriage should be overturned. His ruling is expected within hours and could set the stage for a showdown at the Supreme Court.
We have a live report from San Francisco in just a moment.
ROBERTS: Plus more triple-digit temperatures expected today across the Midwest and the southeast. So far several deaths linked to this heat wave.
Coming up, we're going to check in with our Rob Marciano to get some tips to help you and your family stay safe and find out if there's any relief in sight.
And the "AM Fix" blog is up and running again today. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amfix.
ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Breaking News."
CHETRY: And we start this morning with breaking news out of the Middle East. Reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an apparent assassination attempt.
ROBERTS: Iranian Web site says a man threw a grenade at his convoy but Ahmadinejad is fine. The suspect is under arrest.
Reza Sayah is monitoring all of this. He's in Islamabad, Pakistan this morning.
And, Reza, some conflicting reports over exactly what the device was. Was it a homemade grenade? Was it some sort of large firecracker? What do we know at this point?
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, indeed. There are some conflicting reports. The latest reports are coming from perhaps the most credible sources in Iran and that's Iran's state-funded Press TV. And those reports denied that this was an assassination attempt.
They're saying this was not a grenade and it was a firecracker that exploded near the president's convoy. But about an hour ago you had two government linked Web sites that's saying indeed this was an assassination attempt, that the president had just arrived in the city of Hamadan, a city in central Iran.
He arrived at the airport, got in his convoy, was heading to a city sports stadium where he was scheduled to make an appearance, and all of a sudden a grenade -- according to these reports -- exploded near the convoy.
He wasn't hurt according to these reports but several people were. Those reports saying this grenade exploded near a vehicle that was carrying journalists. Those reports also saying whoever tossed this explosive device is in custody.
But again the latest reports now saying this was not an assassination attempt. This was a firecracker. Just got off the phone with a senior Iranian government official. He didn't even know about it, John and Kiran. So right now we're working the phones to find out more details of exactly what happened earlier today in the city of Hamadan in Iran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll continue to check in with you this morning about this reported assassination attempt of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
Thanks, Reza.
Also this morning it could be the beginning of the end of the 107-day long nightmare for people living and working along the Gulf Coast. BP is announcing overnight that the static kill operation to seal the leaking well for good is working. That heavy drilling mud was pumped into the well for eight hours.
ROBERTS: If they're right, this disaster really could be over or at least on its way to being over. A report claims that the oil spill is essentially under control now.
According to "The New York Times," the government is set to announce that three-quarters of the oil from the BP spill has either evaporated, dispersed or otherwise been captured or eliminated. The rest is so diluted it doesn't pose much of a risk. Jim Acosta live for us in New Orleans where, I'm sure, Jim, you'll find some differing opinions on that report today.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're still going to find a lot of skepticism down here, John and Kiran. But as you mentioned, BP announced overnight about three hours ago what they're calling a significant milestone.
They're saying that that damaged well out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico is now under control because of the presence of that mud that is pumped into the well in the last 24 hours as part of the static kill operation.
And we wanted to see what the conditions were like out at the Deepwater Horizon site so we met up with the Coast Guard cutter Decisive, the aptly named Coast Guard cutter Decisive at this critical stage of the operation. And what we found out there is less oil and more hope.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Hovering over the Deepwater Horizon sight where BP is going in for the static kill, the Gulf of Mexico looks nothing like it did at the start of the crisis. The water is blue in almost every direction with a few exceptions.
Coast Guard chopper pilot Lt. Bill Andrews spots a few patches of oil.
LT. JG BILL ANDREWS, U.S. COAST GUARD: Some brown down there. Some little spots of oil. Not any huge amounts like there were to begin with.
ACOSTA: We land on-board the Coast Guard cutter Decisive. First there is a briefing on the latest conditions at the site. Then we meet the cutter's captain, Teri Jordan, 1 of 2 women in charge of this ship. Something we're told you don't see every day in the Coast Guard.
CAPT. TERI JORDAN, U.S. COAST GUARD CUTTER DECISIVE: Seems like activity has picked up in the last 24 hours. Certainly there's a lot of vessels out here.
ACOSTA (on camera): That's the Q-4000.
(Voice-over): From the bridge we see the Q-4000, the rig at the center of the static kill, pumping mud into BP's damaged well. To the left the two relief wells that must plug the well once and for all.
(On camera): This is as close as the cutter Decisive has been to the scene. And the crew here says this is the most consolidated they've seen these vessels in weeks, a sign that this operation has reached a critical stage.
(Voice-over): Captain Jordan's crew has good reason to want a clean kill. JORDAN: I'd say at least a quarter of my crew is native to the Gulf Coast. And the rest of us is certainly adopted the Gulf Coast as our home. We care because our families live in the Gulf Coast and it really does matter to us.
ACOSTA (on camera): You guys are crossing your fingers, too.
JORDAN: Absolutely, sir.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Down on the water in this small rescue boat, New Orleans native Kevin Burns is quick to point out the Gulf Coast can take a punch.
1ST CLASS BOATSWAIN'S MATE KEVIN BURNS, U.S. COAST GUARD: I was involved in Katrina also and we came back after Katrina and I think we'll be fine. We'll come back after this even stronger.
ACOSTA: Captain Jordan is also hopeful. After circling this site for the last two weeks, she has yet to see any of those massive pools of brown crude.
(On camera): Have you seen less oil as the days have gone on?
JORDAN: Actually, very surprisingly, we've seen very little oil from the moment we got out here until today.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But after leaving the static kill operation on our way back, we find signs this crisis is far from over. This long stretch of oil sheen was floating just a few miles off the shorelines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And as you mentioned earlier, John and Kiran, the federal government is expected to release a report later this morning showing that much of the oil has dissipated since the beginning of this crisis.
That report is also expected to caution that the federal agencies monitoring this crisis are still concerned about the long-term effects of the oil spill. And even BP acknowledges at this point, while there is some good news with the static kill, they still want to consult with federal officials about whether or not to drive cement down into that well following the mud as part of this static kill procedure.
And they're still looking forward to those relief wells being drilled into the ruptured well and filling the ruptured well once again with mud and cement as part of that relief well bottom kill process later this month. So we're not out of the woods yet -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Think what you will of the government report coming up that only about a quarter of the oil has had any significant impact. At least we're getting some good news on the wellhead front.
Jim Acosta, for us this morning. Jim, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Also coming up in just about an hour from now, we're going to hear from the White House on all the latest developments as it relates to the oil spill and the static kill operation proceeding as planned.
Carol Browner, assistant to President Obama on energy and climate change, will be joining us live.
ROBERTS: A blistering heat wave not going away any time soon across the Midwest and the south. The heat and humidity turning deadly. At least five heat-related deaths reported since Saturday from Kansas down to Mississippi.
CHETRY: Yes, high-temperature records were broken across that region and today the heat indexes in some places will reach 115 degrees.
Our Rob Marciano is live in Atlanta's Piedmont Park this morning with more on this.
You know, you warned about this yesterday. This was in the forecast but it still hits you like a ton of bricks when it actually happens.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It does, Kiran. And when it's ongoing like this -- it's been several days especially across the mid and deep south. There is no escaping it. And, you know, we kind of -- we kind of ignore this fact but heat is the number one weather- related killer year after year. And this is a dangerous heat wave, no doubt about it.
We've already seen almost a half a dozen fatalities as you mentioned. And then -- you have to take into account also, you know, people jumping to rivers and lakes just to cool off. And there's an apparent danger there.
As far as record-high temperatures, very similar to what we saw yesterday. And with high temperatures not including humidity, measured in the shade, easily up an over 100 degrees, 107 yesterday in Little Rock, Arkansas. In Greenville, Mississippi, 105. West Plains, Missouri, 103. And again doesn't include humidity, Joplin, Missouri has seen 101.
Temperatures right now. This is the other key. When it gets this warm and it's this humid, temperatures do not fall very much at night. Right now it feels like 89 degrees in Houston when you couple in the humidity, 88 degrees in New Orleans. So it's just -- it's impossible to cool off unless you're inside with some sort of air conditioning which not everybody has that luxury.
All right. Heat advisories in effect again. All that pink, those excessive heat warnings where temperatures could feel as high as 120 degrees.
So stay hydrated, check on your neighbors, and definitely don't leave your kids in the car with the windows rolled up. The obvious things but just needed a little reminder.
John and Kiran, back over to you.
CHETRY: Also watch out for the pets as well because they're feeling it for sure, too. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: We're monitoring a developing story right now out of California where a federal judge is about to decide whether the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. His ruling is expected in a matter of hours now.
It's been two years since California voters passed Prop 8. The measure defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Opponents argue it created two classes of people in California with separate laws for each.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, he's in it to win it. Wyclef Jean reportedly set to announce that he will run for president of Haiti. The hip-hop star was born in Haiti and has been center stage on earthquake relief efforts. He's raised millions of dollars through his Yele Haiti Foundation.
Haiti's presidential election is set to take place November 28th. And Wyclef Jean is expected to make his candidacy official exclusively on Larry King tomorrow night 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: Three weeks after announcing they were engaged, the on- again, off-again romance between Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston is over.
According to "People" magazine, Sarah Palin's daughter broke up with Johnson after finding out that he lied to her about a recent trip to Hollywood. Apparently he originally told her it was for a hunting show. But Palin says instead, Johnston shot a music video mocking her family.
Bristol and Levi broke off their first engagement back in 2008.
CHETRY: It's those little things that just somehow, you know, irreconcilable differences.
ROBERTS: It wasn't the fact that he claimed that he got another woman pregnant.
CHETRY: Well, which you know that --
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: Right. But then that woman said, no, no, it was my other boyfriend. Not him. So it was the music video in the end, I guess.
ROBERTS: You need a program to keep up with this stuff.
CHETRY: Yes. Not ours, though.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Eleven minutes past the hour. Coming up, after the horror now a search for answers. What could have triggered that deadly rampage that took place at a Connecticut brewery warehouse? Police say a disgruntled employee killed eight people, and then killed himself. We're getting a live report from the scene. We're going to hear from witnesses as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Fourteen minutes after the hour.
Police in Connecticut are searching for answers today after a workplace shooting left nine people dead including the alleged gunman, 34-year-old Omar Thornton.
CHETRY: And his family is claiming that he was racially harassed while driving a truck for a beer distributor. It's a charge the company denies and the union denies.
Police say Thornton was being fired for stealing when he opened fire at a warehouse in Manchester, Connecticut.
Alison Kosik is following developments for us. She's live this morning in Manchester.
What are people saying today about this -- this unexpected tragedy?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can imagine, Kiran and John, you know, everybody's still in shock. Still can't believe what happened yesterday. And behind me is the beer distributor that you're talking about.
There it's going to be anything but business as usual today. We're hearing that company officials along with employees -- some who've been there as much as 30 to 40 years -- are all going to meet today and try to come to grips as to what happened yesterday and just grieve together in private. And this is as, of course, police continue to piece together their investigation.
Now at the same time, we're also getting a kind of fly-on-the-wall perspective from CEO of the company, Ross Hollander. He is the CEO of Hartford Distributors. We talked with him late last night and here's what he said about what happened in the moments before the shooting began.
He said that Omar Thornton, the 34-year-old gunman, was scheduled to appear for a disciplinary meeting here at the warehouse around 7:00 a.m. He did show up around that time, along - along with company officials and a union representative. Now in question here was whether or not he was stealing beer from a truck. Now the company says that they had the video to prove it so they all sat down together yesterday morning and they all watched this videotape.
Then they gave Thornton a choice. They gave him a choice, they could either fire him or he could resign. He chose to resign and signed a document to that effect.
Now, as they were escorting him out of the building, Hollander says that - that Thornton said he was thirsty. He walked over to a water fountain and instead just pulled out a gun and started shooting, and before all was said and done, he had killed eight people and, of course, himself.
We also wound up talking with his girlfriend's mother yesterday, who said that what pushed him over the edge was racial harassment on the job.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOANNE HANNA, MOTHER OF KRISTY HANNA: He was being harassed racially at work. Supposedly, there was - which he had pictures on his cell phone, on his camera of the cell phone, showing that there was the word [bleep] written on bathroom walls. There was a stick figure with hangman noose on the bathroom walls, and comments that then being made to him, like he earned his way in that position because he was a [bleep].
Supposedly, he (ph) had gotten a voice recording of a supervisor that came in the bathroom. They didn't know he was in the bathroom stall. He told my daughter to be quiet and listen, and he taped and had my daughter verify that one of the supervisors that came in the bathroom was saying, "We need to get rid of this [bleep] out of here," referring to Omar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Now, when CNN talked with the CEO of the company, Ross Hollander, he said that there was never any indication that - that he was being racially harassed, that they never got a complaint from Omar. The union, by the way, also says that there was no complaint filed by Thornton that was alleging racism at the company -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Alison Kosik for us this morning. A lot of unanswered questions, certainly, for the people who are dealing with this tragedy. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Well, The makers of BlackBerry taking the wraps off of their new phone, the Torch. But is it enough to reignite BlackBerry's standing in the race for high-tech Smartphones? We'll find out.
It's 18 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: "Minding Your Business" this morning. BlackBerry is the king of Smartphones, but research shows the iPhone and other phones are chipping away at the BlackBerry's stronghold.
So now RIM, BlackBerry's makers, are rolling out a new touch screen device. But is it enough to ward off the competition. Joining me now is Maggie Reardon. She's the senior writer at CNET.com. Maggie, good to see you this morning.
BlackBerry already had a touch device. What's it called? The Storm? MAGGIE REARDON, SENIOR WRITER, CNET.COM: The Storm.
ROBERTS: I think and that was kind of a mistake. It had this movable screen on the top. I just - I tried it once and it never worked for me.
But would - is this going to turn people away from the iPhone, the Droid, other Smartphones, keep them with BlackBerry? Because a recent survey found that more than half of people who owned BlackBerry say when it times to upgrade they're going to choose something else.
REARDON: Well, I think if you BlackBerrys and you're a BlackBerry fan, this gives you another reason to stay with BlackBerry. You know, if you look at their product line before this was looking a little long in the tooth.
But this, you know, this phone has a touch screen that's much better than the Storm's touch screen. And it also - it still has that physical keyboard which a lot of people who are sending a lot of text messages, sending a lot of e-mails really like.
ROBERTS: Yes. But let's point it out. I think we've got some pictures here. You actually have one of these but BlackBerry said it's embargoed until 9:00, I guess they think the world (ph) begins at 9:00, so you couldn't bring it in this morning.
So you've got your basic Smartphone, and what do you do? You pull out the keyboard from the bottom?
REARDON: You pull out the keyboard and then it's the - the keyboard, the traditional BlackBerry keyboard, which a lot of people really like. I mean, people can fire off dozens of e-mails a lot more quickly on that than they can on a touch screen iPhone. So I think that they're going to be a lot of wireless users who are still wanting that physical keyboard.
ROBERTS: Yes. I find myself on the iPhone I fire off three or four lines of text and I look back at what I've written, and so, geez, got to start all over again.
REARDON: I use my iPhone simply to read e-mails and text messages. You know, I mean, I'll send text, but, you know, if I'm going to do some e-mail, I do it on my computer on another device.
ROBERTS: Yes. I wonder if you can bridge the BlackBerry and the iPhone, kind of mush them together if you get the perfect device. Well, this is - this is what this one is supposed to be. It has other functions, too. It's got a lot - a lot more apps than were available on the old BlackBerry, which they were kind of clunky anyways, right?
REARDON: Yes. Well, the big story of this phone, too, is it's using the new operating system from BlackBerry, so it's a totally new software and that's - it's really quite different. There is a new browser. I mean, people who were using BlackBerrys previously, that was always the biggest complaint.
ROBERTS: Yes. It was pretty frustrating.
REARDON: Yes.
ROBERTS: But this is kind of a fairly low-resolution screen compared to other Smartphones?
REARDON: Compared to what's out there now.
ROBERTS: Why did they do that?
REARDON: I don't know. You'll have to ask RIM. I mean, really, it's - you know, when you look especially at some of the Android phones that are coming out, the EVO for example and the Droid X, which is on Verizon's network, I mean, those phones look like they are built for multi media and for accessing the web and video right on your phone.
ROBERTS: Yes. And maybe the BlackBerry not quite there yet. Still, they've got another problem. United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and possibly India talking about blocking BlackBerry communications in their country, because they're not transparent enough.
REARDON: Yes. I mean, it's sort of a blessing and a curse the security that RIM users put their BlackBerry system. And apparently these countries feel like the security is too locked down that they can't crack it to - to I guess read what their citizens are writing back and forth to each other.
ROBERTS: Yes. Big Brother wants to keep an eye. But how much of a problem would this be for RIM, because a lot of its expansion is predicated on going - getting into these other countries?
REARDON: Oh, yes. RIM needs to be able to crack these markets. I mean, the U.S. cell phone market is pretty saturated -
ROBERTS: Yes.
REARDON: -- for them to really grow. I mean, they're the second- largest maker in the world, so -
ROBERTS: So do - so do you think they'll fold on this issue?
REARDON: Well, I think they say that they're working with these governments and they already work with the U.S. government and with other western countries. So, I mean, it's not unheard of, you know, that they - that they work with different governments, so I think that they're probably going to work this out.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll see. Maggie Reardon, thanks for joining us this morning. Maggie Reardon from CNET. And feel free to drop by at 9:00 when the phone is unembargoed so we can take a look at it. Appreciate you coming in.
REARDON: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, guys. Thanks so much.
Well, you know, President Obama is celebrating his 49th birthday today. But the president wouldn't be with his family. We'll tell you why and where he's going to be to celebrate coming up.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The president's birthday today.
Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
President Obama's poll numbers may have slipped. One number is going up, though, this morning. That's his age. Today, the most powerful man in the world celebrates his 49th birthday.
ROBERTS: Our Ed Henry live at the White House this morning, and he's - he's one away from the big one. How's he handling it today, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Robert Gibbs had reporters trying to get him in trouble a little bit yesterday at his daily briefing, peppering with questions about how the president's been getting a bit grayer, whether the stress of the job has been getting to him.
If you look at some of the video, some of the pictures of just over the last 18, 19 months since he took office, he's certainly gotten a big grayer and Robert Gibbs noted he's tackling a lot from the financial crisis, he's got two wars to deal with, the attack on health care reform over recent months as well, obviously. And Robert Gibbs noted that the burdens of the - of the job are pretty heavy and - and he joked about it a little bit. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can't imagine that the weight of the job doesn't take a toll physically and mentally on anybody that does it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Well, after that, Gibbs basically said that to deal with all this, the president's been having frequent haircuts, more frequent haircuts so can he kind of cut the gray out, and immediately Gibbs said, "I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying that," with a little bit of a laugh. But he'll probably be OK because the president should be heading out of Chicago and he wouldn't be around here to give Gibbs some trouble. He's going to go home for a big fundraiser back home in Chicago Democrats are throwing in his honor, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, and the other interesting thing is he's not going to be with his family, you know, getting to spend some quality time back in his hometown, but without his wife and daughters. HENRY: Yes. Well, he's got one daughter who's away at camp, then the First Lady has brought their second daughter off to Spain so that they can have a little bit of a mini vacation. It just so happened to cross with the president's birthday.
So we're told that tonight he's likely to have sort of a little quiet dinner with friends in Chicago, but I'm hearing that there's sort of this hush-hush party being put together Sunday, probably here at the White House, when the First Lady's back, when the family is back, and it's a very select list. It's going to just be some senior staff, some close friends. So the president's going to have a birthday party maybe just a few days late.
CHETRY: All right. Well, at least he'll get to be back in his hometown, even though he wouldn't be with his family.
Ed, thanks.
HENRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: All right. We're crossing the half-hour now. Your top stories developing this morning.
Several reports out of the Middle East saying Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad survived an assassination attempt. Reports are someone threw a grenade or some kind of homemade explosive device at his convoy and several other people were hurt, but Iran is now downplaying it all, saying it was only a firecracker.
CHETRY: Well, it's working. BP announcing overnight that the "static kill" operation is going as planned and that they're watching the well closely. Heavy drilling mud was pumped into the well for eight hours yesterday.
ROBERTS: Opponents of a planned Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero say they plan to sue New York City after authorities cleared the way for its development. Critics tried to block the project by having the billing declared a landmark, but yesterday, a commission said the abandoned former clothing store can be demolished.
Extreme radicalization can happen anywhere. That's what one U.S. attorney said after a 20-year-old man from Fairfax County, Virginia, was arrested for his ties to the Somali terror group al-Shabaab.
CHETRY: Yes, it's the staggering reality that the feds are now dealing with, and in some communities, Muslim leaders are actually working with authorities to try to find at-risk Muslim teens now before they're targeted and possibly indoctrinated.
Our Deb Feyerick is back with our ongoing series, "The New Bin Laden."
And it's astounding to think this is such a big problem or at least such a concern that they're launching these programs. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what's really empowering is the fact that people in communities are stepping up to the plate. They realize that they're at risk. It can happen anywhere because online recruiters are seeking out wannabe jihadists over the Internet.
Now, a federal task force has been looking into ways to stem violent extremism. And among their greatest findings is that it cannot happen without community involvement. Somalis in Ohio have grasped the reality of the threat. They're now trying to figure out who they know who may be vulnerable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): This soccer field in Columbus, Ohio, is a long way from Somalia. Far from civil war, these kids have learned to dream big.
(on camera): What do you want to do when you graduate high school?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be a soccer player.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be an engineer.
FEYERICK: And what about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be the president of Somalia.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Pulled between two cultures, many in Ohio's Somali community fear teens like these could be targeted by extremists.
(on camera): Who is it in the community who is potentially radicalizing young people? Is it the Internet? Is it some body? Is it an Internet imam? Who are we talking about?
ABDOUL SHMOHAMED, ABUBAKAR ASIDDIQ ISLAMIC CENTER: That's something we haven't been -- we leave that for law enforcement to figure it out.
FEYERICK (voice-over): That's the problem. No one knows for sure who's recruiting. Persuading young men to get terror training overseas and possibly wage jihad against the U.S.
That worries FBI chiefs, like Keith Bennet.
(on camera): What is your big fear?
KEITH BENNET, FBI, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Well, the fear is what -- the unknown. What are the threats that we just aren't aware of.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The threat is very real. In 2007 and 2008, about 20 young men from Minneapolis, most of Somali descent, traveled to Mogadishu to join the al Qaeda-linked terror group al Shabaab, which means "youth" in Arabic.
(on camera): When you heard about the young men from Minnesota, did that just stun you how somebody could throw away their future?
ABDULLHI YUSEF, OHIO STATE UNIV., SOMALI STUDETN ASSOC.: Yes. I mean --
FEYERICK (voice-over): As head of the Somali student association at Ohio State University, Abdullhi Yusef is working to educate his peers about the dangers of radicalization.
YUSEF: We have people dying back home and to see Somali youth who were given a chance to live in this great nation and gain education, to go back and do such insane actions, I mean, it is very -- it is very frustrating.
FEYERICK (on camera): Here in Columbus, Ohio, there are some 40,000 Somalis, many of them refugees who fled civil war in their native country. Once here, young men face other challenges, like unemployment, possible gang recruitment and alienation from the larger society. All that, authorities say, make them especially vulnerable to potential radicalization.
(voice-over): That fear has spurred the entire community to take action, warning not only children but their parents, too.
Community leader (INAUDIBLE) takes his fight door to door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing worse than a young mother of fellow who brought a young one here, who go to school and then go out of this country and become a suicide bomber.
FEYERICK: Every week, Tara (ph) checks in, asking things like --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us who is associated with your kids? Do you know anybody calling your son? Does your kid change his behavior recently?
FEYERICK: So far, there's no evidence anyone from Ohio has been recruited, and that's just how these Somalis want it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not telling you nothing will happen which I don't know what to happen. But the effort we are doing is making sure that everything stays zero.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, there are two parts to all of this. First, law enforcement is trying to deal with the criminal aspects of violent extremism. When it comes to the religious aspect, the ideology, its neighbors and family and friends who really have to step up -- in fact, there have been some Somali mothers who have gone to community leaders and said, I'm worried about my child, the path they may be taking.
And that really sparks this sort of initial intervention where people are stepping in, and they are actually reaching out to law enforcement, to the FBI. And that's exactly what the FBI is trying to accomplish with all of this.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: You know, when you look at sort of fundamentalism and radical Islamism worldwide, a lot of it has to deal with lack of economic opportunities. Here in this country, it seems to be something quite different.
FEYERICK: That's why it is so surprising to all of these people. Why when their parents come here to give these children such a great opportunity, why would they just throw it all away?
CHETRY: And it's interesting that they're trying to tackle it now, before it becomes a potentially much larger problem in the future.
FEYERICK: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Deb Feyerick, thanks so much. Great series.
FEYERICK: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, we're coming up on 36 minutes past the hour.
We're talking about tax cuts. The Bush era tax cuts are set to expire. President Obama wants them to, especially for the top income earners, those known as the richest Americans. There are other economists, though, that say the trickle-down effect could be the wrong thing in our fragile economy. We're going to have a debate about it with two leading experts -- coming up.
Thirty-six minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Thirty- nine minutes past the hour right now.
You know, there's a big debate going on over taxes that some argue affect just a small portion of our country's earners but others say it has a huge potential impact on everyone in this fragile economy. The president wants to allow the Bush era tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 to expire at the end of the year. By doing absolutely nothing, he would essentially be imposing a tax hike on about 3 percent of America's wealthiest families.
Now, most Republicans, and actually, quite a few Democrats, say that this is not the time to raise taxes on anyone.
We're joined in Washington by Peter Morici. He's a professor of international business at the University of Maryland. He wants to extend all of the Bush era tax cuts. And, also, Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities -- he wants the tax cuts eliminated for the wealthier earners in the country.
Thanks to you both for coming in this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: I want you to lay out your cases because it is very -- there are two sides to this, and it's being hotly debated right now.
And, Peter, what's your argument for allowing these tax cuts to continue?
PETER MORICI, PROF. OF INTL. BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Simply, this is the wrong time to impose taxes on the economy. The recovery is too fragile.
Longer term, something has to be done about the deficit. The level of federal spending from before the recession has grown from 19 percent of GDP to over 25 percent. The real problem is spending. Barack Obama is spending too much money. He's ratcheted up spending on a permanent basis and he's trying to fool everyone.
Raising taxes on the rich is not going to solve this problem. If we're going to do it through taxes alone, then we're going to have to raise everyone's taxes. So, it's time to be honest in this tax debate.
CHETRY: I want to ask about this though, Peter, quickly, before I get to Chuck. It says it would cost $115 billion to extend those tack cuts even for one year. People like Alan Greenspan, former fed chairman, say that unless you offset the costs elsewhere, it would be, quote, "disastrous" for the economy.
So, where would you cut?
MORICI: Well, I don't believe in the premise that it would be disastrous for the economy. Right now, if you raise taxes, you will reduce investment and jobs creation. You know, those tax increases would fall on 50 percent of the proprietorship income. Those unincorporated businesses would face the highest marginal rate and it would go up. You add in state taxes to over 50 percent.
Ride the elevator down in New York. That's that mom and pop luncheonette. Marginal tax rate on that mom and pop luncheonette would be 50 percent. That is not the way to encourage those folks to add another employee.
CHETRY: All right. Let me get Chuck in on this.
And I do want to talk about the debate over small business in a moment. But, first, Peter is not alone. There are plenty of economists who do say that you can't just raise taxes right now even on the top income earners given the state of our economy.
What's your argument for allowing those tax cuts to expire for wealthiest earners?
CHUCK MARR, CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES: I think, Kiran, what's most important is that we need to extend the middle class tax cuts, right? Middle class people tend to live paycheck to paycheck. Therefore, their spending is very sensitive to their paycheck. We don't want a decline in their paychecks. We want to extend those tax cuts.
High-income people are different. Their spending is much less sensitive to their income ebbs and flows because they tend to save more money.
So, I think what we want to do is we want to let the high-income tax cuts expire this year on December 31st.
We need to keep in mind that the first -- right after those tax cuts expire, within minutes, the first baby boomer will turn 65 years old. So, the budget is going to come under tremendous pressure. We have to lock those savings from the high income taxes. That would save us over the next decade, $1 trillion.
CHETRY: But about the argument, though, Chuck, that these were the people the potentially create jobs, when we're dealing with nearly double-digit employment?
MARR: Right. I think you've hit it, Kiran. We have to keep our focus on the bottom line here, right? The major problem right now is that one in 10 Americans is out of work. Extending the high-income tax cuts is a very inefficient way to address that major problem because people at the top again, their incomes -- their spending is much less sensitive to those tax cuts. I think what we need to do, I really fear we don't want a net tax increase next year, but we need to focus on that bottom line.
So, I would suggest that Congress consider is that they provide a robust tax cut for businesses that actually hire workers, right? So, we get the middle class tax cuts extended. Let's get some customers in the stores. But then, on the other end, you're providing a tax cut to businesses, small and large, to hire workers and really focus on what is our major problem. That's unemployment.
CHETRY: All right. I want to get to the small businesses.
And, Peter, the Tax Policy Center, you use the figure affecting possibly, or potentially 50 percent. The Tax Policy Center says only 2 percent of small businesses would be affected by this. You disagree with that.
Why do you think it's a much bigger number or percentage that would be affected by this?
MORICI: We have to understand how we count small businesses in this country. A college professor who gives two speeches maybe gets $10,000 for those speeches, files a Schedule C and gets counted as a small business. If you look at Schedule C income, where the unincorporated income is reported, 50 percent of the income is on 2 percent of the returns. But that's where half of the profits are -- because those are the real small businesses, people that actually have enterprises and produce things and employ people.
So, this is a statistic that, you know --
CHETRY: Right.
MORICI: -- people can do what they want with them. And it's rather disingenuous to use that statistic. By my colleague's logic, what we ought to do is double taxes on everybody that makes more than $250,000 a year, take that money and distribute it to teenagers because we know they will spend every last nickel.
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CHETRY: I want to let check respond to that notion that this 2 percent really doesn't tell the whole story -- Chuck.
MARR: I think that if you look at it, Kiran, obviously, most people realize that most small businesses are small. I mean, Peter mentioned the luncheonette. I mean, your neighborhood cleaners, your local plumber, your local diner, these people are not in the top tax brackets. They're going to benefit from the middle class tax extension. Again, more likely to be in the top bracket -- Peter talked about the elevator in New York is that bond trader on the top floor.
That's who pays the top rate. But again for small businesses, I think we need to do, we do need to deliver a tax cut to them, but let's focus on that small businesses that are hiring workers. Let's make it easier for them to hire people because, again, that is our problem right now is that 1 in 10 Americans are out of work.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's a great debate this morning. Good conversation, Peter Morici and Chuck Marr, thanks to both of you for your time.
MARR: Thanks, Kiran.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, Rob Marciano will be along with this morning's travel forecast.
CHETRY: Also in ten minutes, cigarette butts, they litter city streets, but one man is trying to turn common trash into a real commodity. We got details in today's "Edge of Discovery." It's 46 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Forty-nine minutes after the hour. It's going to be a hot one today. Let's get a quick check of the morning's headlines. Rob Marciano this morning in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. How warm is it there already, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Seventy-six degrees and a little bit soupy. A lot of humidity down south that there's no stranger to Atlanta here in Piedmont Park. This time of day, people get out. They try to get their exercise in, and then you want to do it certainly with this heat wave before the sun comes up and really starts baking down. The track behind me is already getting to be quite active. There was one boot camp of about 30 or 40 people gathering just a few minutes ago.
All right. Currently, what is it feel like in some spots? Take a look at this graphic which highlights the temperature, what it feels like in places like Houston and Little Rock. Even at this hour of the morning, 89 degrees what it feels like in Houston, meaning the temperature plus humidity. Little Rock 90 degrees, Shreveport 88 degrees. So, there's no escaping it even at night. Record highs yesterday, a slew of them again, some of these numbers are striking, Wichita seeing 109 degrees. Can you believe that? Little rock, 107.
Six months ago, we were standing in Memphis reporting on the record cold. 103 for a record high temperature in Memphis yesterday, and they're in the bull's-eye for what's going to happen today as far as heat goes. Radar, any relief from rain? No. When you get a heat wave like this, basically, everywhere where it's hot there's no rain. All the rain and thunderstorms kind of circle around it in what we call the ring of fire. Chicago, you'll get some thunderstorms later on this afternoon. You see it there on the radar.
So, as far as that (INAUDIBLE) a lot of them again, all the pink areas there, that is where we're seeing heat indices that could be 115 to 120, and this will stick around for another day or two. By the way, tropical storm Colin has decreased in intensity, just a remnant low. At this point, we'll keep an eye on it and see if it musters up anymore strength. Take a look at what these folks did to kind of cool themselves off in the heat. You got your local watering hole. You got the lakes and rivers. They rented a dumpster and filled it up with water, and there you go.
That's where the neighborhood kids cooled off there. I believe that's in Texas, and no threat for being swept away by the current there. Hope that dumpster was clean. Looked like they have some sort of liner. Take all sorts of ingenuity to keep cool here before just stepping inside for a little air conditioning, but if you don't have the luxury, fill up the dumpster with water.
CHETRY: Chlorinated water, hopefully.
ROBERTS: I just got a great idea for a new business, Rob. As did probably a thousand other people. All right. Rob Marciano this morning.
MARCIANO: Yes, exactly.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Brings a new meaning to "dumpster diving." MARCIANO: All right, guys.
ROBERTS: Pools on demand.
This morning's top stories just minutes away, including the growing movement to redefine who becomes a citizen of this country. Why some people want to change the amendment that says if you're born in the USA, you are an American citizen.
CHETRY: How about this? Robots in space. The first ever humanoid astronaut heading to the international space station. He even has his own Twitter account, of course, and his name, R2. It's really his name. Those stories and much more coming up at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Five minutes down to the top of the hour. When you think of recycling, newspapers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans probably come to mind, right? Now, there's something else that you might be able to add to that list. Cigarette butts. Yes, cigarette butts. Gary Tuchman has details in this morning's "Edge of Discovery" report.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blake Burich spends weekends working in his garage. The project, he's trying to help put the unsightly problem of discarded cigarette butts to good use.
BLAKE BURICH, PATENT HOLDER: One bounced off my windshield while I was driving, there's got to be something that we can do with these. It's just a huge problem.
TUCHMAN: Burich collects the butts, peels away the paper and tobacco and mixed what's left of the filter with a homemade solvent.
BURICH: The process is very brief. From beginning to end, it would take about 15 minutes at the most.
TUCHMAN: After the material soaks, Burich says the silly putty like substance can be used to protect against corrosion or reinforce materials like the pipes in your house. And Burich isn't the only one hoping to see more green along the streets. New York assemblyman like Mike Dendekker has introduced a bill proposing a cigarette recycling program for a state.
MICHAEL DENDEKKER, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: I think it's about time that we got responsible on this particular issue and tried to work to find a worldwide recycling solution.
TUCHMAN: The bill is only in the beginning stages now but could require deposits on cigarettes similar to a bottle deposit.
Gary Tuchman, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Next time you see that butt laying on the ground, just remember.
ROBERTS: Take it to your local recycling center.
CHETRY: Top stories coming your way after a quick break. We'll be right back.
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