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American Morning
Sen. Stevens Killed in Crash; Summer Primary Push; India To Ban Blackberrys; JetBlue Flight Attendant Released From Jail; Chris Bosh Discusses Playing for Miami; Science of Sleep; Getting People Somewhere Safe
Aired August 11, 2010 - 08:00 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. Thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING for this Wednesday, August 11th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us. Lots to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.
Investigators in Alaska trying to figure out why a plane carrying nine people, including former Alaska senator Ted Stevens, crashed into a mountain on Monday. Stevens and four others were killed on their way to a fishing camp. Four of the passengers survived. We're getting our first look this morning at the wreckage.
CHETRY: The next stop, November. Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon easily winning the Republican race for Senate in Connecticut. She spent $22 million in the primary and now faces a general election fight that should be tougher and probably dirtier. Connecticut's newly minted GOP nominee is going to be joining us live -- just ahead.
ROBERTS: And a potential tropical storm is now forming in the Gulf of Mexico. It could hit the Gulf Coast in the next 36 hours. BP forced to suspend drilling on the final 50 feet of its relief well, waiting for the system to pass.
Rob Marciano is tracking the storm from the extreme weather center.
CHETRY: And, of course, the amFIX blog, as always, is up and running this morning. Join the live conversation. Go to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: But, first, a tragic plane crash that killed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and four of his friends. Despite brutal conditions on that Alaska mountainside, four passengers managed to survive, waiting 12 agonizing hours for researchers to reach them because of treacherous weather.
CHETRY: Yes, the body now of Ted Stevens -- the longest serving Republican senator in U.S. history -- is back home this morning. He's being remembered as a man who single-handedly won statehood for Alaska.
Our Casey Wian joins us live from Anchorage this morning.
And, Casey, you know, it's quite ironic. Stevens always said he hated to fly ever since he survived another plane crash back in '78 that killed his first wife.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He called it an occupational hazard of being in Alaska politics. The towns here are so far apart and such vast, rough terrain. To get to all of these places, you have to fly often in small planes, often in bad weather, very difficult conditions.
And he was afraid that he might actually lose his life the way he ultimately did. He told that to "The Washington Post" in 1979, about a year after he survived that plane crash that killed his first wife.
Now, as to the survivors of this plane crash, most recent one that killed Senator Stevens, we're getting more information now about their condition. Former NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, is at Providence Hospital, where I am, in critical condition. His son is in serious condition. One other passenger is also in serious condition. And we have no word about the condition of the 13-year-old boy who survived the crash. His father was one of those who was killed.
We are also hearing stories from some of the first responders to the crash scene, the international guard folks who arrived some 12 hours after the crash. They had a very difficult time getting survivors out of the wreckage of that plane because of the terrain. They said they were dealing with multiple fractures, lower leg fractures, of those -- some of those who survived.
One of the survivors actually was ambulatory and was taking cover from the elements underneath the broken wing of the airplane when they arrived with the others. And the fatalities were all still inside the fuselage of that aircraft.
We also spoke yesterday with one of the first pilots who overflew the crash scene. He talked to CNN. Here's what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC SHADE, PILOT WHO FOUND CRASHED PLANE: The main fuselage and tail was in one piece. But the wings were off. And I couldn't see the engine. So --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think anybody could have survived that?
SHADE: I didn't think it was survivable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: It's pretty clear that the reason that there were survivors is -- what you can only describe as some of the heroic rescue efforts of some of these volunteers who were able to get to the crash scene. There was a press briefing by the National Transportation Safety Board yesterday.
And the chief of the NTSB spoke about some of the rescue efforts in the early hours after the crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH HERSMAN, DIRECTOR, NTSB: There were a lot of people who were applying their skills and also supporting those individuals who were trapped on the hillside. Obviously, we don't know what would have happened if they had not been there, but we do thank the Lord that they were there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIAN: Those NTSB investigators will be heading back up to the crash scene later today to try to gather more information about exactly what happened. It's clear that the weather was a factor. It's clear that the rocky terrain was a factor. Beyond that, we don't know much more -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: All right. Casey Wian for us this morning in Anchorage -- Casey, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, space walk and an important repair mission under way right now at the International Space Station. In fact, we have a live look as astronauts perform their second space walk in five days to replace a pump and to fix the cooling system on the ISS. We are supposed to having a live picture. There we go. Well, that's the --
ROBERTS: I was about to mime it out for you.
CHETRY: Well, do you have some washers in your pocket?
NASA says that without it, the temperature of the station's sun-facing side would actually soar to 250 degrees. And we're complaining about the heat here. Well, thermometers on the dark side plunged to negative 250, but there is a backup system that for now at least keeping things stable.
ROBERTS: You mention, if you will, a couple of people with screwdrivers in their hands flying high above the earth.
After an unprecedented recall involving nearly 9 million cars, government investigators can't seem to find anything wrong with all of those Toyotas. Tests on 58 vehicles that crashed uncovering no evidence of flawed electronics that would support claims of unattended acceleration. NHTSA's preliminary findings support Toyota's claim the drivers mistakenly hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.
CHETRY: Well, the JetBlue flight attendant who went on the intercom system and went off, decided to leave the plane after some pretty rude comments from a passenger, then grabbed a couple of beers, slid down the escape chute, released on bail now and talking. This is video of him walking out of jail last night amid the crush of cameras and microphones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: The scar on your head, is that from the suitcase falling? Is it? Tell me what you think about all of the support you've gotten.
STEVEN SLATER, JETBLUE FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's been very, very appreciated. And it seems like something here has resonated with a few people. And that's kind of neat.
REPORTER: Are you going to lose your job?
SLATER: More than likely.
REPORTER: Do you care about that anymore? Tell me about --
SLATER: No comment at this time.
REPORTER: Well, how about this? Tell me about rude passengers, talk about that.
SLATER: There's a lot of wonderful people out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Slater already has tens of thousands of Facebook fans. I think 94,000 or more when Allan Chernoff last checked. He didn't have them 48 hours ago. We're going to take a look at his meteoric rise to fame later this hour. Talk now, predictably, of perhaps a reality show.
ROBERTS: But if he's not a flight attendant anymore, what part does he play in a reality show?
Well, in the face of an embarrassing public trial for ethics violation, the defiant congressman, Charlie Rangel, told his colleagues, "I'm staying."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Hey, if I was you, I may want me to go away, too. I am not going away. I am here. And I do recognize that --
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The 20-term New York Democrat did apologize but insisted he is not corrupt. Later on today, Rangel is celebrating his 80th birthday at the plaza hotel here in Manhattan.
The National Republican Campaign Committee responded, saying Democrats have turned Congress, quote, "into a three-ring circus."
CHETRY: Well, former White House social secretary, Desiree Rogers, landing a new gig. She's taking over as CEO of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago. Rogers, you may remember, lost her job after the -- remember the party crashers situation that happened at the Obama's first state dinner last year? Well, Johnson publishing is an African-American owned and operated business that includes "Ebony" and "Jet" magazines.
ROBERTS: The tropical storm warning now in effect for the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana. The system is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Danielle sometime in the next 24 hours. It could hit the region within 36 hours. It's forcing BP to suspend drilling on the final 50 feet of its relief well until the storm passes over. The relief well, the final step to kill BP's ruptured Macondo well permanently.
CHETRY: And Rob Marciano in the hurricane headquarters. He's tracking the system for us.
So, now, another disruption in the "final kill" procedure, again, because of weather.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This one is looking more and more like Bonnie. Remember that thing?
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: It just kind of petered out and did nothing, but likely will strengthen more than it has over the last 12 hours. It actually weakened since our last update. It's down to 30-mile-an-hour winds and still about 250 miles away from the mouth of the Mississippi River, but it's heading in that general direction, northwest of the movement and about 10 miles an hour.
As John mentioned, we do have tropical storm warnings up from the Choctawhatchee (ph) Bay, back to Destin, Florida. And they may endure some tropical storm force winds and some rain bands -- they're already getting some rain bands, but maybe some winds as early as this evening. Official landfall is likely tomorrow morning sometime as a tropical storm. Not that yet.
Heat indexes: 105 to 115. Broken record on this end of the story. Central part of the country is in the midst of this heat wave continuing for the second week. I think next week will be a little more comfortable. But meantime, they are sweating it out.
Talk more about this and update what might be Danielle in the next 30 minutes of the show.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it. Rob, thanks so much.
Well, it's a victory that opens the door to a whole slew of new election year cliches. Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, wins the Connecticut Senate primary for the Republican Party. She's live -- coming up next.
CHETRY: Also ahead: hot tickets. Miami Heat trio, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh -- the team to beat? Well, Chris bosh joins us live to weigh in. What's it like with his two new teammates playing down in South Beach? He's also offering up a little wager, I guess you could say, giving money to kids for every rebound.
Ten minutes past the hour.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: The voters have spoken in several major primary races.
In Colorado's Democratic Senate primary, incumbent Michael Bennet, the man President Obama backed, beat former President Clinton's candidate.
There is still no winner in the governor gubernatorial runoff in Georgia. Nathan Deal leads Karen Handel by about 2,500 votes. Recount is likely on that one.
And in Connecticut, former wrestling executive, Linda McMahon, won the GOP nomination for Senate. She's going to face Democrat Richard Blumenthal in November. One of them will succeed retiring senator, Chris Dodd.
And fresh off of last night's victory, Linda McMahon joins us this morning from Cromwell, Connecticut.
Ms. McMahon, it's great to meet you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
What does your victory say about the mood of Republican voters in 2010?
LINDA MCMAHON (R), CONNECTICUT SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: What I am finding all across Connecticut as I've traveled across the state and talked to the people of Connecticut is that they really want a change. They don't want to send the same politicians to Washington and get the same politics out of Washington. They want someone that's an outsider who's had real life business experience. And they really hope that someone who's built a business and created jobs and understands the impact of taxes and regulations on small businesses can have more of an impact on the economy.
ROBERTS: You spend a tremendous amount of money on this victory. You spent $22 million of your own money. You've got another $28 million that you're planning on putting towards the general election campaign. Your opponent, by comparison, has got $2.1 million in the bank.
But political analysts point out that even with $22 million, candidates who work really that much competition for you, you didn't crack 50 percent. What do you say about that?
MCMAHON: Well, I can tell you that I think it's very important to spend the right amount of money so that the people of Connecticut know who I am and what my message is. And that was my commitment to do it.
Now, I started out as -- and continue to be an underdog in this race against opponents who have great name recognition. I mean, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has been part of the Connecticut scene for 20 years with, you know, newspaper, television coverage on a weekly basis for sure. So, it's very important for the voters of Connecticut to know me.
But, it's not just about spending money. I have crisscrossed this state and done over, I think, 660 events now, and Main Street walking tours and meeting the people of Connecticut and letting them kick the tires with me. And as I do that, I'm really making an impression and my message is resonating with them.
ROBERTS: There are early indications, Ms. McMahon, that your campaign may redefine the word "negative" there in the state of Connecticut, beginning with fliers pointed at your Democratic opponent Richard Blumenthal and the statements that he made about his Vietnam record where he said he went to Vietnam, he actually didn't. But do you think -- and you mentioned this, the fact that he has been so handedly elected so many times over the last 20 years, do you think negative campaigning can be the key to upsetting him?
MCMAHON: John, I really believe that this campaign is going to be -- this election is going to be won on the issues when it really comes down to it because the -- voters --
ROBERTS: Okay. So if that's the case, then why the negative campaigning?
MCMAHON: I think it is important to point out if someone has -- you know, a history of not telling the truth about issues, and I think that negative campaigning has certainly been pointed at me. But in the end, this campaign is going to -- this election is going to be determined on the issues. The people of Connecticut are going to speak their voice as to who they think can represent them better in Washington and whether they want to send a career politician to Washington or someone with, you know, fresh ideas and ability to create jobs.
ROBERTS: Well, certainly they are prepared to hit back at you. Here is what Eric Schultz from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee told "The New York Times." that Linda McMahon, "made millions running the WWE where she peddled violent, sexually explicit material to kids, used lobbyists to grow her profits, and embraced widespread steroid abuse." Your history as the CEO as WWE is obviously going to play very prominently in this campaign. Can they convince the voters that you are not the right person because of your history in business?
MCMAHON: Well, they will certainly try. And I think that that is what we have seen since I entered this campaign last September. Those have been the negative attacks on me. And as my opponents have talked more and more about WWE and issues that might have been relative to programming content at an era when it was TV 14 instead of focusing on the issues -- I talked about the issues and I have continued to gain momentum. You know, was the nominee coming out of the convention just won the primary, and if -- my opponents continue to talk about soap opera content instead of focusing on issues, I will win again in November.
ROBERTS: All right. Soap opera content is one thing. We all know that wrestling is entertainment. But there was a darker side that has been addressed to some degree since then. That's the whole controversy over steroids. And Democrats looked posed to really zero in on this when they were attacking you. Eddie Guerrero's death in 2005, of course, Chris Benoit's murderous rampage in 2007. That put a lot of focus on this. A Congressional Committee, said of WWE, that it had, "not taken adequate steps to address steroid use among its wrestlers". So, how are you going to answer those questions when your opponents try to paint you as the queen of steroid abuse in the WWE?
MCMAHON: I thought it very interesting one time when we did have a Democratic Congressional Committee looking at that when -- they really did not look at all the evidence that had been presented and looked at the absolute change over course of time with WWE and the enhancements and its health and wellness policy that includes not only annual physicals, impact testing for concussions and a very comprehensive drug policy. The men and women who perform at WWE really are the primary assets of WWE. And we want to protect them at all costs. Doctors who travel with them and train -- let me finish. We have trainers who travel with them. We have a very comprehensive drug testing program. Let's look at where WWE is today.
ROBERTS: But in addressing the steroid abuse issue, did you do enough, soon enough?
MCMAHON: I think you have to look at where we have come. Continue to make progress throughout the time of WWE. And I mean, you have to look at the Olympics. You have to look at all of the impacts of different drug tests and how they evolved and WWE has evolved and will continue to evolve. It will always continue to improve and get better.
ROBERTS: Well, certainly your presence in the race is going to make this a very interesting one as we head into the fall campaign. We here at CNN will do our best to avoid the wrestling cliches when talking about it. Linda McMahon, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks.
MCMAHON: Thank you, John. It is a pleasure to be here.
ROBERTS: All right. The best political team on television has got you covered, by the way, 24/7. Follow it all at cnn.com/politics.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, the Indian Government is threatening to ban Blackberrys over security concerns. We have talked about other countries doing the same. We are going to check in with Sara Sidner, coming up next. Twenty minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There is a growing list of countries now considering a ban on Blackberrys. It all started with the threat of a shutdown on e-mail, internet and instant messaging on the Smartphones in the United Arab Emirates.
ROBERTS: The reason the government said it was a security concern. Other countries are also considering a ban, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India as well. "Minding Your Business" this morning, let's bring in our Sara Sidner, who is live in New Delhi. And Sara, the big democracy like India, they are really thinking of reigning in Blackberry communications?
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a word, absolutely, John and Kiran. Basically what's happening here is India has been fighting this fight for longer than a lot of people know. They have been up to this for about two years. Almost two years now. Looking at how they can get more access to some of the services Blackberry offers. The problem is the companies' are not happy with that. And some of the customers aren't either. They don't necessarily want to allow the government to be able to deencrypt some of these very secure messages. But the big thing is there are a million customers here in India and none of them want to see Blackberry go away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (voice-over): Indian exporter, Paramjit Saluja, is always on the go. His clients are spread out across the globe so he's never without his prized electronic assistant, his Blackberry. No matter where he is, or what time it is, Saluja's fingers are fast at work on Blackberry's instant messenger because it is super fast and time is money.
SIDNER (on camera): Can you live without it?
PARAMJIT SALUJA, INDIA EXPORTER: No. Blackberry is the key to business, all businesses today. It helps you in business. It helps you in connecting to friends and anybody throughout the world. Especially with the Blackberry Messenger Service, the BBM. It is a fantastic feature.
SIDNER (voice-over): But the world's largest democracy is one of several countries threatening to ban that and one other feature due to security concerns. Blackberry's super secure encryption methods make it nearly impossible for intelligence agents to tap-in to the real- time messages.
SIDNER (on camera): Just like shop owners who want to be able to watch their customers and peer to their entire store electronically, the government wants the ability to peer into all the Blackberry offers to make sure that there's no terrorist plot being hatched right under their noses.
VIKRAM SOOD, RETIRED INDIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Knowledge and information from all sources is necessary. There's no - there is no two ways about it.
SIDNER (voice-over): Vikram Sood is a retired Indian intelligence agent. He points out that India is one of the most attacked nations in the world. He says the country needs every tool available to try and avoid another attack. If not, he says --
SOOD: You are completely blindsided. You don't know what's going on. So what do you do?
SIDNER (on camera): React after the fact.
SOOD: React after the fact? Now, I tell you if you react after the fact the explosion has taken place, a terrorist act has taken place. 100 people, 150 people have died. Now who is liable for that? Is Blackberry going to be liable? Because it withhold the information, in a manner of speaking. So, isn't it better to share?
SIDNER (voice-over): That's a question that's pitting big business against the government. Decision is expected Thursday. There is a lot at stake for Research In Motion, the owner of Blackberry as well, as it faces the possibility of losing out on one of the world's fastest growing telecommunication markets, a potential 600 million-plus customers in India. As businessman, Paramjit Saluja sees it, he can't imagine a world without Blackberry. And doesn't think he will have to. He is confident a deal will be made. Considering Saudi Arabia was able to hatch a deal over the same issues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Now here's something to think about as well. You know the U.S. and its diplomats, many of them use Blackberry. So, there is a concern from the U.S. itself in some of these countries as to what is going to happen. They are in talks with some of the countries including India about Blackberry and considering that so many people are on this and so many people use it, there's definitely a lot of interest here and everyone is watching to see what's going to happen tomorrow as the government is expected to make some sort of announcement about what it is going to do and if it is going to ban some of Blackberry's services. John and Kiran.
CHETRY: If Research In Motion was willing to sort of work something out with Saudi Arabia, that's not a universal agreement then with other nations. They have to do it piece meal?
SIDNER: That's what we are hearing. And we are also hearing from many people who are kind of familiar with what's going on that they believe that this will be sorted out. But you really are getting kind of conflicting comments from different people. Some of the telecom operators saying we will work this out. It will get works out. We are having talks with the government. And we will figure something out. But if the government does decide that things like Blackberry Messenger are just too encrypted, they can't get into it, and they can't make a deal, with Research In Motion, then that service could very well go away affecting a lot of people here.
CHETRY: Sara Sidner for us this morning from India. Very interesting story. We will continue to follow it. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Great to see you, Sara. Thanks so much. JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater pops the door, grabs a beer, and bugs out right into the bask of a new celebrity status. Allan Chernoff with the latest on the flight attendant coming up. Coming right up. Twenty-eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour, and here are you top stories this morning.
Investigators in Alaska heading to the scene of a deadly plane crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens and four other passengers on Monday. Four people survived the crash, including former NASA administration Sean O'Keefe and his teenage son.
CHETRY: Also in the wake of the worst flooding in Pakistan's history, the Taliban is telling the Pakistani government don't take money from America. Our Reza Sayah says the Taliban is planning to give more than anything the U.S. sends, although that would probably be more of a boast than anything in reality.
So far Washington committed $55 million in aid, aid that the Pakistani government is not planning on turning down. The Pentagon already has chopper on the ground helping with the rescue along with food, aid, and vital water filtration systems.
ROBERTS: The developer of a controversial mosque and Islamic center in lower Manhattan has reportedly rejected an offer from New York Governor David Paterson. Paterson offered to be a mediator and try to find a new location for the center. The governor says he's very sensitive to those who are against the center being so close to ground zero.
But the developer told our affiliate, New York One, quote, "This has always been about serving lower Manhattan."
CHETRY: The JetBlue flight attendant who flipped out, bailed out, down the escapte chute, is now out on bail.
ROBERTS: Steven Slater was ready for his close-up when he emerged to a mob of media waiting for him at the gate of the corrections center. Allan Chernoff joins us now with more on the clock running on Slater's 15 minutes of fame. Good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I think those 15 minutes are going to be expanded because this story is -- it could be a long time.
CHETRY: It could be 15 episodes of a reality show.
CHERNOFF: I think that's exactly where we are headed. This is definitely resonating.
Right now his Facebook page has more than 100,000 fans and growing very, very rapidly. And by the way, there are more than 25,000 fans for the "Free Steven Slater" page.
Well, he is free. He got out of jail yesterday, late yesterday. In fact, he was in jail in the South Bronx but posted bail of $2,500. Remember, he is facing two felonies, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment for having activated that slide, that emergency slide, from the plane and bailing out. Let's have a listen to what he said last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN SLATER, JETBLUE FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's been very honest, very appreciated. It seems like something resonated with a few people and that's kind of neat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to lose your job?
SLATER: More than likely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you care about that anymore?
SLATER: No comment at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about this? Tell me about rude passengers. Talk about that for second.
SLATER: There's a lot of wonderful people out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: You see that bump on his forehead, that came courtesy of an unruly passenger on the flight from Pittsburgh. He then got into an altercation with the passenger. The passenger cursed him out, and Mr. Slater took to the system and returned the favor using that four letter word.
Then he activated the slide, grabbed a few beers, his luggage, and out he went. By the time he got home shortly afterwards, the police were there to arrest him. But this story has become legendary. This is, I think, the way a lot of people would maybe like to say "take this job and shove it."
CHETRY: You're right. One of the people on twitter wrote "On behalf of all of us thinking of creative ways to leave our jobs, blank you, Steven Slater, for setting the bar ridiculously high."
CHERNOFF: The truth is, he says that he absolutely loves being a flight attendant, done it since he was 19 years old. And he's worked for quite a few. He worked for TWA, delta. He is a real veteran of this industry.
And I think that another reason this is resonating is that so many people realize that flying these days is really tough. And people know how hard it is for the flight attendants and what they have to put up with.
ROBERTS: No question. CHETRY: Did they ever catch up with the unruly passenger, by the way?
CHERNOFF: I don't think so because the police were not called for a good 20, 25 minutes. So the passengers had plenty of time to disperse.
ROBERTS: Well, if the unruly passenger is out there, give us a call. We want to talk to you.
It's a hot ticket from Miami Heat trio LeBron James, James Wade, and Chris Bosh. Are they the team to beat this year? Chris Bosh live coming up on the most news of the morning. It's 35 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back for the most news in the morning. Our next guest is one of biggest things to hit South Beach since Snooki and The Situation. Just kidding. NBA star Chris Bosh went from Raptor to rapture when he signed with the Miami Heat.
ROBERTS: Maybe you heard about it. Bosh is teaming up with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James to form a pricey triple threat in Miami. And everyone it seems has something to say about the decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is this? A sponsored party?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Good tequila. Check it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trust me, margarita, change your life. Enjoy it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will give you a thousand bucks to give me some vodka.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And from the set of "Entourage" to our set, Chris Bosh joins us this morning. Chris, great to see you, thanks for stopping by.
CHRIS BOSH, NBA PLAYER: Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: So you, Dwayne, LeBron and the Miami Heat, I mean, sports book has you eight to five, the highest odds to win the championship. Is anything less than a championship given this lineup going to be seen as failure?
BOSH: I think so. Coming into this, I think we all expected to win championships. Before we even got to this free agency period, our number one goal as individuals, I think, everybody would say is to win a championship. And to make this move and to assemble these kind of players we have in Miami, I think that nothing less would be a little bit of a failure.
ROBERTS: There you go.
BOSH: So there's no pressure.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: And all the talk of you how guys came together during the free agency period was the stuff of legend. A lot of rumors, talk of meetings taking place between you star players. How did that go down? How did you all end up -- how did it all come together and all of you end up playing for the Heat?
BOSH: I think not trying to get into intermixed with each other, I think that helped because we were able to go with our own, hang with our families, just go through all the emotions that come with -- that came with the free agency period.
CHETRY: It wasn't planned?
BOSH: No, it wasn't planned. We couldn't plan it. I can't ask LeBron to go to Miami. He has his own family. Dewayne has his own family and his own issues and his life.
I think it was best that we just kept it separate in everything and everything worked out well.
ROBERTS: It was a confluence of cosmological forces that brought you together.
BOSH: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: You know, so here -- you are a bona fide star with the Toronto Raptors. Now you are going down there to join the triple threat in Miami which is going to be the biggest thing since Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan.
When you look at where you came from, Hutchins, Texas. You were out in the yard picking pecans, making money off of that.
(LAUGHTER)
How far are you from those days, and how do you keep things in perspective?
BOSH: It is so strange. It is funny you ask that question. I kind of struggle with it every day. I feel like I'm a regular guy trapped in a famous guy's body or something, you know, because I go places and people talk to me and they want to take pictures with me and it is still kind of strange for me.
Because the way I grew up, it is different. My dad told me, man, you know what, if your grandpa would have lived to see the money you are making, that probably would have killed him itself. (LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: That's a good way to put it.
ROBERTS: Deep inside you are still that young kid picking pecans?
BOSH: Yes. I mean, you know, I'm hard worker. I feel extremely lucky to be doing this. I get to do what I love for a living. My dad told me you want to do a job you love. There's nothing like having a job you don't love. Trust me. OK, you know. I listened to that and I go to live my dream.
ROBERTS: That's great.
CHETRY: You know, it is also interesting because, of course, a lot of controversy surrounding LeBron James leaving Cleveland, a lot of anger -- the unprecedented angry posts on the blog from the GM of Cleveland. Things were a little bit easier for you leaving Toronto, but people were still upset.
What's it going to be like now that the schedule is set and you know when you are returning to your former home field, and the same with LeBron. Are you the least bit nervous about that?
BOSH: Yes. I mean, that's the place -- I'm not used to it. It is funny. I worked out at the Heat facility and everything is so new and different. That place I know like the back of my hand. Just to come back the as an opponent sitting on the other side of the bench, you know, just -- it is going to be different.
But I'm looking forward to it. I think -- you know, sometimes the awkwardness of situations, you have to embrace it because it is going to happen a lot.
ROBERTS: When you get into a position like you are and you get the huge NBA salary, everybody talks about giving back, and you are giving back with this is after the all-stars program. What's that about?
BOSH: Well, I mean, it is -- it is pretty much what it sounds like. It's an after-school program. There are programs all over the states. And they keep kids, you know, out of the streets. I think that's -- that's a very important thing, because we all know after school, that's the biggest time to get in trouble.
So I think that just keeping the kids occupied and making sure that they are learning something and getting some kind of education or recreational value is important.
CHETRY: You are putting your money where your mouth is. You are offering 20 bucks for every rebound you make. Are you getting other players onboard with that, perhaps donating based on points?
BOSH: I think Lebron will be participating as well. Hopefully we can arrange a lot of money from the Heat's perspective. ROBERTS: We also see you wear a milk mustache these days because you are involved with the "Got Milk?" program. This is a new one talking about mill section a great thing to drink after a tough workout. There's some evidence to support that. It is a refuel America program. Obviously they paid you to be involved here. But do you believe in it?
BOSH: I think -- you know, I believe in science. So if, you know, approved and everything, I think it is -- it is worth looking at.
ROBERTS: The science was if you use skim milk to recover after a hard workout, you get all the protein you need plus you lose weight and building muscle.
CHETRY: Not that you need that.
BOSH: To be healthy, it's the thing to be healthy right now. Everybody I think just being aware of your body and being aware of what you need to do to stay healthy, I think that's very important.
CHETRY: It is going to be hard on South Beach with the fun to be had, all the restaurants. What are you looking forward to the most about your new home?
BOSH: Just the weather. I think it will really hit me like in, you know, December, February, in those bone-chilling months.
ROBERTS: When I left Toronto in 1989, I went to Miami, too. I was so sick and tired of winter. Chris, it is great to see you.
BOSH: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Thanks for stopping by and good luck to you.
ROBERTS: Good luck. Championship or failure.
BOSH: Pretty much.
CHETRY: Thanks.
The extreme heat continues, speaking of. We are talking about tropical depression number five. It could become the next named storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
We're going to check in with Rob Marciano next. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center, your hurricane headquarters.
It's not a hurricane yet but expected to become a hurricane -- tropical depression number five with winds of 30 miles an hour. And it doesn't look like a whole lot, does it.
We're starting to see some convection flare-up around the center. And the National Hurricane Center has posted tropical storm warnings from Destin, Florida, back to the Achapalaya Swamp (ph) there. And it could see tropical storm force winds as early as later on tonight or tomorrow morning as this thing begins to approach the shore line.
Here's the forecast track. Forecast to become a tropical storm. And maybe get winds as high as 50 miles an hour. And then scoot across the mountains of the Mississippi River and then get up -- get up into Mississippi. It has been skimming a little bit further to the right.
The movement now northwesterly at 12 miles an hour and they have halted some of the drilling operations because of it.
There is the rotation. You see the showers and storms. The other big weather story is the heat, dangerous heat across the midsection of the country. But things will begin to cool down this weekend.
That's a quick check on weather. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Time now for your "AM House Call," stories about your health. It's a medical mystery. Why do some people wake up every night with the slightest little noise while others can just sleep through just about anything?
ROBERTS: It turns out the answer is, not surprisingly inside your mind. So who better to explain this than our own resident brain surgeon, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
So why is sleep such a unique thing for each individual, Sanjay?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right and we are so fascinated by things that we just simply don't get enough of, sleep in this case as it turns out. It's interesting.
And you know, for a long time researchers have known about this -- this characteristic -- this brain pattern in the brain. When you go to sleep your brain doesn't go to sleep completely. You still have these waves and one of those waves is something known as sleep spindles. They didn't quite know how it works, though which is the focus of this new study. I think it's absolutely fascinating.
Let me just give you an idea of what we're talking about here. This is the -- an animation of the brain. Let's say you're sleeping and some sort of loud noise happens in the middle of the night, a thunder clapper for example. Some people stay asleep, some people wake up.
The question for a long time has been why? Let me give you a little bit of an idea, here is the ear over here. The sound is going to travel from the ear, closer to the center of the brain, an area known as the balance. This is important.
And from there, oftentimes it's going to go to the cortex, the brain, where this disturbance is sort of recognized by the individual. They feel it and they may wake up by it.
Someone that has a lot of sleep spindles for example, think of those as sort of blocking this. The noise is still getting into the brain, the disturbance but it's not ever getting to the point where you become aware of it. People who have more sleep spindles as a result aren't going to have more of these disturbances throughout the night. And that's -- that's basically how they are saying this particularly works.
CHETRY: One of the other questions a lot of people want to know is that if you sleep more soundly, is that better than if you wake up but are able get yourself back to sleep again?
GUPTA: If you sleep more soundly, yes, if you sleep more soundly obviously that's going to be better. The question has been, you know -- can you sort of determine who is going to sleep more soundly or not.
And in this study, what they did was they studied people who were in a completely quiet environment and everyone makes these sleep spindles as they sleep. People who had the most sleep spindles were getting the best sleep.
What's sort of interesting as well, Kiran, is that a lot of times people who have fewer sleep spindles would wake up 20 or 30 times throughout the night --
ROBERTS: Wow.
GUPTA: -- and they would say they only woke up once or wise. That's all they would remember. But the point is their quality of sleep was greatly diminished even though they didn't necessarily realize it.
ROBERTS: Yes, for light sleepers out there, is there anything that could be done to help them, Sanjay? And I think that --
GUPTA: Why do you ask, John?
ROBERTS: Well, I don't know maybe it's because I -- I actually don't suffer from that problem. You know, a cannon can go off. I -- managed to sleep in Israel when there was artillery going off.
GUPTA: Right.
ROBERTS: During the Israel/Lebanon war. But you know, we hear about people who move in next to a railroad track and after a while, you know, they don't even know that it's there anymore.
So is there anything they can do, science can do, to help people who suffer from this problem? GUPTA: Well, it's interesting because there's all sorts of different ways to get better sleep. There's sleep aids, for example. There's ways to change your environment. And certainly if you're very tired, you're likely to sleep more soundly.
But the -- but the interesting thing is, these spindles, John, you sort of have a certain number of them. And it seems very hard to increase those numbers. They do seem to decrease as we get older for example. But that's where -- that's exactly where researchers are sort of focusing their attention next.
They want to get more of these spindles. Why? Because it gives you -- it allows you to not be distracted as much when you sleep. But it seems to be the best quality of sleep as well; better than a sleeping aid, sleeping med for example.
ROBERTS: And wouldn't that be nice.
CHETRY: We need spindles here.
Thanks so much Sanjay.
GUPTA: Spindles, that's right -- everybody.
CHETRY: Take care.
GUPTA: You bet.
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Today in our "Building up America" series, making sure a very tragic moment in history does not repeat itself. So many people were left to suffer in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina because they couldn't get out.
CHETRY: And some were just simply too old to able to get themselves out, in other cases, too poor.
Tom Foreman shows us a new effort to make sure that no one is left behind next time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the wake of Katrina, tens of thousands of New Orleanians were stranded because they lacked transportation, information or the inclination to evacuate before the storm.
Beverly Mitchell with a clunker of an old car was one of them.
BEVERLY MITCHELL, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I really didn't believe that Katrina was going to be so devastating. FOREMAN (on camera): You found out otherwise?
MITCHELL: I sure did. Yes, I did.
FOREMAN (voice-over): She wound up in the Superdome's heat, squalor and darkness for days. Now in the shadow of that same building, a growing group is building up their plan to avoid a repeat of that calamity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need this to save lives.
FOREMAN: This is Evacuteer.org, volunteers from all over town who are training to help their fellow citizens get out when a big storm comes in.
Robert Fogarty is the founder.
ROBERT FOGARTY, DIRECTOR, EVACUTEER.ORG: If we're not preparing our vulnerable residents for a way to leave and have them feel safe in that process, you know, we're not doing the best that we can.
FOREMAN: About 30,000 residents lack reliable transportation, so when an evacuation is called, 700 evacuteers man collection points all over offering information, assistance with bags, help with paperwork, getting those people on to buses and on their way.
(on camera): What is their number one sort of mission for you?
LAINE FREY, VP OF OPERATIONS, EVACUTEER.ORG: For me personally it's to get every person in the city somewhere safe if there's a storm coming.
RAFAEL DELGADILLO, VP OF OPERATIONS, EVACUTEER.ORG: We're here to make sure that, you know, there's grease between the gears and that people are calm down.
SHAWN CHOLLETTE, SR. VP OF OPERATIONS, EVACUTEER.ORG: So evacuteer.org is about me taking care of my family, my extended family. And hopefully the rest of -- everybody feels like we're family.
FOREMAN: Hurricane Gustav tested their skills two years ago and they say it went well. But the evacuteers keep improving, always mindful of the chaos of Katrina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think our organization exists to reduce and never have happen what happened 5 years ago. I mean that just can't happen.
FOREMAN: Beverly Mitchell is counting on that.
(on camera): There are people here who don't have transportation. There are people who have medical problems. There are people who have financial problems, who have questions, who are afraid --
MITCHELL: Yes, yes -- you know. So evacuteer is a blessing for all of us.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And assurance that as long as the evacuteers can find a way in, they will have a way out.
Tom Foreman, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Best of luck to them. Certainly a very, very important endeavor they're undertaking there.
ROBERTS: Much needed.
CHETRY: Well, continue the conversation on today's stories. Go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. That will do it for us today. Thanks so much for being with us. And we'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: The news continues here on CNN with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM" -- good morning Kyra.
